The 10 Best Kwaito Producers

Get to know the the 10 most notable old school kwaito producers.

Zwai Bala produced most of TKZee's hits. Photo by Sabelo Mkhabela.

Arthur

The self-proclaimed King of kwaito produced almost every song that was released under his label 999 Music. Except producing his own hits such as the monumental "Kaffir," "Oyi Oyi," "Mnike," "Haybo," "Twalatsa," among hoards of others, he produced hits for Abashante, Ishmael, Makhendlas, Purity, New Skool, Chomee, Iyaya, Zombo and more.

Earlier, his production style was simplistic, with a lean bassline and high pitch organ keys, but later became wider as demonstrated on songs like his hit "Pule Pule" and Ishmael's "Roba Le Theka," which boasted a healthy bass line and layers of pads that proved Mafokate was moving with the times and improving on his sound.

Apart from the instrumentals, Arthur's production was distinct as a reasonable number of his productions featured vocals usually sung by members of the group Abashante.

Arthur's solo singles and those he produced for artists signed under 999 Music were responsible for popularizing dances that are now part of South African subculture–kwasa kwsa, twalatsa, manyisa and more.

Notable Productions

Arthur "Kaffir"