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Tidal Waves - Manifesto

Tidal Waves write and perform original reggae music with traditional African music influences like Maskandi and Mbaqanga. The sound is original roots reggae with strong rock, ska and blues influences.

They are renowned for performing music in English, Afrikaans, Setswana and Tshivhenda. Each language has musical implications. "If I sing lyrics in Xhosa," explains Jacob 'Zakes' Wulana, "I need to have a Xhosa melody and harmony. We grew up singing our traditional songs, with their humming and clapping, that were very different from what we sang at school."

This culturally rich reality continues to shape the group's distinctive take on reggae, an approach steeped in South African sensibilities and sounds. Tidal Waves take cues from the music popular in townships midcentury.

They turn the Zuluinspired mbaqanga, with the sparkling guitar licks and rich harmonies made popular worldwide by artists like Miriam Makeba and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, into catchy reggae tracks. "You can't be a South African and not play mbaqanga," says Wulana.

That approach continues on the group's fifth album, 'Manifesto'.