Digital Tapestries of Black Music Urbanism: Mapping Umlazi’s Soundscapes Through Gqom Music Technologies & Spatial Economies

Abstract

Music is created by communities, but it also creates communities. Dance music culture has been one of the greatest exports to come out of eThekwini (Durban) townships and has had a significant socioeconomic, political, and cultural impact on South Africa and Southern Africa at large. Gqom, an electronic dance music sound originating in eThekwini, has created a community of artists, producers, dancers, and fashion stylists. Through Gqom, young creatives in eThekwini and beyond have discovered alternative strategies of survival within their marginalised communities. Gqom music has been one of the drivers and connecting elements between the life, energy, culture and daily economics of urban life in eThekwini. Gqom has not been without the influence of technology, where access to infrastructure within the township economy has shifted how it is created, shared, and consumed. The proximity to internet access has had a major bearing on the ability for the creators of Gqom to share their music, first amongst themselves, before it is distributed to their local fanbase(s) and then to the rest of the world. My paper will present a 2-year cultural mapping project done in Umlazi township eThekwini – where everyday interactions of Gqom music culture take place and the matrix of Gqom production and reception is most vibrant – illustrating the various networks that a Gqom Song moves in both physical and digital space. Through collaboration between Producers, DJs, Students, Young Professionals, Lifestyle Centres, and other township actors, the project investigated processes of socio-economic and cultural exchange in the community of Umlazi; using Gqom culture as a driver and catalyst.