Tsonga/ Not Tsonga

Judging by the stats thingy on Blogger, Paul Ndlovu is one of the most popular artists we have ever featured here on 27 Leggies. A proud son of Limpopo Province, whose life was tragically cut short in 1986, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of Tsonga Disco.

When I was out in South Africa earlier in the year I picked up a compilation from 2002 titled simply "Paul Ndlovu's Greatest Hits". I had most of the tracks already but there were two or three that were new to me. I've now got round to listening to it and, to be honest, you would struggle to discern any obvious Tsonga/ Shangaan influence on most of the tracks. Even those songs we have showcased here before, such as "Mina Ndzi Rhandza Wena", seem to have been remixed to make them more like pure Afropop.

So that was a bit disappointing. But one can't be too disappointed, because it is Afropop of the highest order. Here are a couple of selections, the first of which is a Ray Phiri song Paul recorded with an outfit called Ace.

"Zantinti" - Paul Ndlovu (with Ace)

"Khombora Mina" - Paul Ndlovu

Listening to that, some folks might cast doubts over Paul's heritage. But musicians the world over know the truth. For example, here is our old friend Elkie Brooks - fresh from giving evidence to the Leveson enquiry earlier today - to reaffirm what all right-minded people know: Paul's a Tsonga.