Marrabenta is a popular style of Mozambican

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

combining traditional Mozambican dance rhythms with Portuguese folk music. It was developed in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, the capital city of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, during the 1930s and 1940s.

Etymology

The name may be derived from the Portuguese word ''rebentar'' (''arrabentar'' in the local vernacular), which means "to break". This may refer to the cheap musical instruments used in this music, which are often played energetically until they fall apart. Vocalist Dilon Djindji claims this refers to the energetic performances he delivered while on tour across

, as the intensity and vitality of his shows led audiences to believe that he was 'breaking' the emotional limits of those in attendance. The musicians who played Marrabenta came to be called ''arrabenta''. Over time, the name ''Marrabenta'' has grown in popularity and continues to be used today.

History

Marrabenta gained national popularity in

during the 1930s and 1940s while the nation was still under Portuguese colonial rule. Before the popularity of Marrabenta, Portuguese musicians in Mozambique played

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

, a type of traditional Portuguese folk music. These musicians introduced the traditional orchestration and other influences of fado, such as the use of guitars, mandolins, drum sets, and other conventional Western instruments, to

. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, as a site for cultural interaction, also played a role in the development of the new genre, contributing influences of

tonal harmony Tonality is the arrangement of pitches and / or chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived ''relations'', ''stabilities'', ''attractions'', and ''directionality''. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or the root of a triad with th ...

and the basic use of progressions like I-IV-V. Mozambican musicians combined the influences of

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

, secular Western music, and

African rhythms Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest" that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) has described the many local approaches as constit ...

to create an entirely new genre. Dance rhythms are a primary feature of traditional African music. In trying to duplicate these traditional sounds on new western instruments, Mozambican musicians created a new style of dance music, which quickly gained popularity among the youth in the 1940s. In 1977,

experienced a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The government, viewing marrabenta as a way for people to express their dissent, shut down many music venues at the time. While Marrabenta's popularity began to decline during the

Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War () was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992 due to a combination of local strife and the polarizing effects of Cold War politics. The fighting was between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Front for the Liberat ...

, it never disappeared. Fleeing the war to seek a better life and economic opportunities, many Mozambicans, including several Marrabenta musicians, migrated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. This introduced South African musical styles such as

Kwela Kwela is a genre of street music originating from southern Africa. It is distinguished by its prominent use of the pennywhistle, jazz-inspired elements, and a distinctive skiffle-like rhythm. It evolved from the marabi sound. Kwela brought South ...

and Xangana to the Marrabenta style, adding rhythmic variety to the genre. Upon gaining

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Portuguese colonial rule, Mozambique came under the control of a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

regime, resulting in new musical influences from communist

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. When Mozambique ceased to be a socialist country in the 1980s, Western musical influences flooded the country. These included

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

mainly from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During this time, Marrabenta underwent significant transformation as musicians started using

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

and

electronic instruments An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...

, while retaining the fundamental character of the music.

Style

The Marrabenta style is a blend of traditional Mozambican rhythms and Portuguese

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

with influences from Western popular music that were brought over by radio. Early Marrabenta artists, such as Fany Pfumo, Dilon Djindji, and Wazimbo, were crucial in establishing the genre, which has evolved over time into its modern form. This evolution can be seen in Marrabenta bands such as Eyuphuro and Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Moçambique. In its contemporary form, it has combined with other pop genres. The Mozambican band Mabulu mixes marrabenta and

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

. The genre is celebrated annually in the Marrabenta Festival in

Contemporary form

Today, Marrabenta reflects global influences, including

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. This has led to the emergence of a number of subgenres within Marrabenta, including pandza, which is a mix of reggae and Marrabenta and is currently very popular among the Mozambican youth. Marrabenta has also spread to other parts of Africa and the world.

References

{{Lusophonemusic Music of Mozambique