Treading the fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation usually feels like walking on eggshells, but when this South African choir took to the ATKV choir finals this year chanting a traditional Zulu song, “Africa-Keurspel,” they proved that it doesn’t always matter what your ethnicity is or what country you call home—all that matters is that you enjoy the music.
With their astonishingly awesome performance approaching 50k views on YouTube to date, this stage full of choir boys brings the vivid melodies of Africa to the internet’s world stage, unashamed as they feel every fibre of the music and let it possess their spirits.
From the first echoes of their deep voices and pointing fingers, Music Man readers will know they’re in for a surprise as the boys perform with an energy and invigoration unbeknownst to Western choirs. A grand piano lies unplayed in center-stage as Henri Potgieter lays his exotic beat on the djembe, backing the choir’s majestically rich harmonies with unique flavors. His focus and enjoyment, in time with the singers, is infectious.
As the performance unfolds, the choir is clearly loving every upbeat moment as they sing with cheeky smiles and introduce dance into their act; turning from side to side, walking left and right with each passing line and swaying like trees in the savannah breeze, while their layered voices ring out deep, fresh and as solid as one instrument. And unlike any Western church choir, the boys embellish the djembe beat with stamps, amplifying the groove and raising spirits seamlessly.
Eventually, a conductor rolls out on stage to instruct the choir’s closing lines, but we doubt the boys need it, completing their track with exceptional finesse.
These boys form the Afrikaans Higher Boys’ School choir, established in the 1930s in Gauteng, South Africa, and since becoming “one of the country’s best youth choirs.” Running under the motto, “Sing to touch people’s hearts,” the multi-award-winning choir currently enlists around 80 boys between 13 and 18 years old.
This exceptional performance has managed to move some native viewers to tears, commenting, “Seeing and hearing this after all the horrors of earlier decades gives me so much hope in these dark times.” Amongst the praise of amazed fans, another poignantly noted that the boys are “singing Zulu without dropping [their] Afrikaans heritage not a bit. Beautiful kids and an exceptional performance! Stay like THIS, South Africa.”