Music, Suburban Youths, and Inner City Redevelopment in Johannesburg, circa 2015 Ama

130 Pages·2016·7.72 MB·English

Reimagining the City, Rewriting Narratives:
Music, Suburban Youths, and Inner City
Redevelopment in Johannesburg, circa 2015

Amanda Mullins

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts by Research in Music

Johannesburg 2016
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Abstract

This research explores the influence that inner city redevelopment in Johannesburg has had on both
its music scenes and the identities of those participating in the music scenes, particularly young
participants from Johannesburg’s suburbs who did not interact with the city before its
redevelopment. Understanding the city’s history as well as the current lived and imagined divides
between its suburbs and inner city illuminates its fragmented nature and informs the significance of
the presence of suburban youths in today’s inner city music scenes. Personal and collective
narratives gathered from participants of these inner city music scenes provide insight into the city’s
spatial, social, and musical transitions, adding subjective voices to the city’s complex and ever-
evolving history. The use of culture-led regeneration (within cultural clusters), as a model of
redevelopment, has aided in the success of attracting new audiences to the inner city once eschewed
by suburbanites, providing grounds for new experiences and interactions within an increasingly
diverse social sphere. Due to this, the music’s diversity within these spaces is expanding too. The
role of music – and in particular, alternative music – in enticing suburban youths to the inner city
requires an understanding of why ‘alternative’ (or arguably, creative) people are often drawn to
urban spaces, and in doing so, often become main contributors to the accomplishments and successes
of redevelopment initiatives. Examining social interactions and relationships within the inner city, in
comparison to those in suburban Johannesburg, exposes a unique and highly valued manner of
communal bonding amongst participants that is often tied to involvement in similar music scenes.
The experience of the inner city, the experience of music in the inner city, and the experience of a
community of like-minded people within the inner city all combine to create new discourses about
Johannesburg, as well as impacting on the identities and experiences of those contributing to these
discourses. Transforming city. Transforming music. Transforming people.
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Declaration

I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend as if it were my
own.

I have used the author date convention for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to
and quotation in this dissertation from the work/s of other people has been acknowledged through
citation and reference.

I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Master of
Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any
other degree or examination in any other university.

AAAA.... CCCC.... MMMMuuuulllllllliiiinnnnssss

Amanda Mullins
11 March 2016
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Contents

Abstract ii
Declaration iii
Acknowledgements v
List of Figures vi

Introduction 1

Part I: Setting the Scene

Chapter 1: Suburban Life in Johannesburg: Comfort vs. Community 10

Chapter 2: Inner City Redevelopment: Context and Contest 17
Enlivening Johannesburg
Redevelopment initiatives in Johannesburg’s inner city
Gentrification and its affects and effects
Moving forward

Chapter 3: Reimagining the City: New and Changing Perceptions 37
Post-2007
Limitations and freedoms
Spatial matters

Part II: Inside the Scene

Chapter 4: Music Brought Me Here: Migrating 53
The relationship between space and sound

Chapter 5: The Soundtrack of Johannesburg: Listening 61
Fertile ground
Changing spaces = changing music
Mainstream vs. hip
What does it mean?

Chapter 6: The Tin Roof Choir of an Old Train Station: Experiencing 73
Experiencing the city at different times
A walkable city

Chapter 7: We Are Who We Are Because We Are Not Them: Socialising 85
The ‘in-group’ and the ‘out-group’
Visual displays of the self
Community ties and neo-tribal bonds
The metaphor of migration

Chapter 8: The Blank Canvas: Rewriting 97
The changing city
The changing people
The changing music

Conclusion 107

Appendix 112
References 116
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Acknowledgements

My greatest thanks go to my supervisor Dr. Grant Olwage who continuously supported and
bettered this thesis. Your insight and guidance allowed for this research to take shape in the way it
did, also allowing me to improve as a writer. I really appreciate your patience and kindness; I have
so enjoyed working alongside you.

Thank you to the University for the financial support in the form of post-graduate bursaries, which
have abetted me greatly over the past two years.

To my informants, Nas, Saul, Mike, Jess, Jean-Michel, Andile, and Bassie, whose stories, opinions,
and experiences constitute a large part of my work: I am so thankful for your time and assistance. I
value the way that your voices brought this work to life and enriched the research.

I am forever grateful to my family and friends who supported me throughout this process. My dad,
Nigel, my sister, Angie, my other half, Tristan, and particularly my mom and best friend, Jean: your
encouragement and love is so very appreciated.

This work is dedicated to my dearest Alfie.
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List of Figures

Figure 1 A map of Johannesburg with noteworthy areas labelled. 5

Figure 2 A map of Johannesburg’s inner city with noteable areas and 6
landmarks labelled.

Figure 3 A typical suburban scene in Johannesburg. 12

Figure 4 A gated community or ‘estate’ in the suburb of Fourways. 15

Figure 5 One of the many dilapidated buildings in the inner city. 19

Figure 6 A view from Newtown looking out over Braamfontein towards 19
Hillbrow, demonstrating redevelopment’s impacts.

Figure 7 Colourful street art in Braamfontein. 24

Figure 8 The streets of Newtown ‘littered’ with creative graffiti designs. 25

Figure 9 Neighbourgoods market buzzing on a Saturday in Braamfontein. 28

Figure 10 Two promotional posters from The Living Room showcasing their 40
interesting range of musical offerings.

Figure 11 Bassie’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 46

Figure12 Jean-Michel’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 48

Figure 13 Nas’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 49

Figure 14 Maboneng visitors and residents expressing their creativity. 58

Figure 15 Two posts from Kitcheners’ Facebook page promoting events. 65

Figure 16 A Facebook post from And Club, promoting the enjoyment of music. 70

Figure 17 The unassuming and ‘not-so-glitzy’ entrance of Town Hall in 71
Newtown.
Figure 18 The old Park Station structure in its usual desolate state. 75

Figure 19 A comment from the 5 Gum Experience’s Facebook page. 76

Figure 20 A view of the crowd at a party in Braamfontein. 77

Figure 21 Partygoers enjoying the music under a highway in the inner city. 79

Figure 22 People walking between attractions in Maboneng. 82
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Figure 23 Cyclists taking part in a Critical Mass event in Braamfontein. 84

Figure 24 Two posts from Tiger Tiger Fourways’ Facebook page. 88

Figure 25 Two posts from Kitcheners’ Facebook page, promoting events at the 89
club.

Figure 26 People dancing at And Club. 91

Figure 27 The exotic interior of Maboneng’s The Living Room. 105

Figure 28 Andile’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 112

Figure 29 Jess’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 113

Figure 30 Mike’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 114

Figure 31 Saul’s conceptual map of Johannesburg’s inner city. 115
1

Introduction

The spatial configuration of Johannesburg is one of its most fascinating and unique features, made
even more so by the city’s now infamous decline during the 1990s and early 2000s. Referring to the
repeal of apartheid’s Group Areas Act in 1991 when the movement of black citizens was no longer
controlled and as heavily scrutinised, Russell West-Pavlov describes how
The erstwhile polarisation of apartheid Johannesburg into rich white suburbs in the north,
impoverished black townships in the south, and a central business district (CBD) where both
groups met in the everyday labour transactions of a major commercial and financial
metropolis abruptly became fluid. Following upon the mass flight of large corporations from
the CBD to peripheral centres such as Sandton or Rosebank, the city centre has been
‘hollowed out’, in the words of urban theorist Martin Murray [2011], resulting in a
metropolis ‘turned inside out’ (2014: 11).

In this logic, the ‘inside out’ city resulted in the peripheral suburbs becoming the ‘heart’ of
Johannesburg while the inner city, on the other hand, was eschewed. Perceptions towards the inner
city were greatly affected, with many such attitudes still prevailing today. However, recent
redevelopment projects in the inner city are steadily challenging and changing the perceptions of the
city. Middle-class suburban youths – specifically those who self-identify as creative and ‘alternative’
– were some of the first people to notice and participate in the beginnings of the city’s
redevelopment. Music in particular was a main drawcard for them. From around 2007 onwards, the
growing presence of alternative music scenes and clubs appealing to these creative and alternative
middle-class suburban youths resulted in a steady, although at first small, influx of people who had
previously been too wary to interact with the city. Then, music acted as a stepping stone into the
transforming city, and offered the young suburbanites glimpses of the city’s potential. In turn, the
presence of these suburbanites, displaying the comfort and ease with which (parts of) the city could
be experienced, influenced and attracted more outsiders to visit and utilise the city.

The use of culture-led regeneration initiatives, a model of redevelopment that has experienced
widespread global success, has been a main component in not only bringing new musical experiences
to fruition within Johannesburg’s inner city, but also in drawing vast crowds to its spaces. “The role
played by culture in regeneration has become familiar and commonplace”, says music academic and
social anthropologist Sara Cohen (2007: 191), praising its accomplishments in her fields of study in
Liverpool. Culture-led regeneration often comes to life in ‘cultural clusters’ where amenities such as
restaurants, galleries, museums, and music venues exist in close proximity to one another.1 These
types of attractions – which often include trendy coffee shops and organic markets, too, for example

1 Literature on topics of culture-led regeneration and cultural clusters includes: Mommaas (2004), Austin
(2013), Carmon (1999), Richards and Wilson (2006), Landry et al. (1996), Garcia (2004).
2

– are vital in attracting new visitors, consumers, residents, and investors to a space. The inner city
areas of Braamfontein, Newtown, and Maboneng – the three areas that this thesis focuses on – are
considered to be cultural clusters in which the positive effects of culture-led regeneration are visible.
Attractions in these ‘hubs’ also act as stepping stones into other areas of the city, with the hope that
visitors and residents will experience newfound enthusiasm for, and gratification of, the city,
resulting in further utilisation. Similar to the work of ‘narrative space’ designer and researcher
Tricia Austin (2013), I wish to explore the idea that it is ultimately the personal, lived experiences
and interactions in and with these specific places which are intertwined with local knowledge and
understanding that make the experience of the ‘new’ city significant. Playing roles similar to those of
migrants, suburbanites gravitating towards the inner city begin to appropriate its urban spaces and
in doing so concurrently create new personal and collective identities that incorporate the lived
experiences of their newly-discovered roles as urban participants.

Thus, a new social profile has been (and continues to be) created as a result of the city’s transformed
and transforming spaces. Furthermore, due to both the partly renewed spatial and social
constitution of the inner city, its musical agenda has been greatly influenced too. Musicologist Adam
Krims labels this typical shift as ‘the urban ethos’, where changes in a space ultimately produce
changes in the people who use that space and hence changes in its music (2007). A large component
of my thesis deals with the ways in which these three aspects are inherently intertwined: the spatial,
the social, and the sonic. All sound studies, R. Murray Schafer believes, deal with the relationship
between humans and the sounds of their environment, as well as “what happens when those sounds
change” (2012: 95). It is my aim to pursue the nature of the relationships between music, space, and
people in the context of Johannesburg’s inner city redevelopment initiatives.

The city’s diversity, which, in addition to Johannesburg being a migrant city, is ever increasing as a
result of its cultural clusters drawing in new audiences, is an integral influencing component in the
music one experiences in its spaces. While styles and genres of music such as hip hop, rock, and
electronic dance music are the primary types of music found in the inner city, it is the diverse,
hybrid, and progressive nature of these that is celebrated – essentially, music that does not have
typical mainstream appeal. The connection between urban spaces and alternative and creative
culture (consisting of audiences who characteristically favour progressive music), is therefore
necessary to consider; and I aim to give an account of why alternative music scenes have flourished
in areas such as Braamfontein, Newtown, and Maboneng. The experience of music in the inner city
(as opposed to the suburbs, for example) is also examined, highlighting the aforementioned idea of
space or place having effect on, and being tied up in, one’s experiences. Urban studies theorists John
Connell and Chris Gibson claim that, indeed, “despite fabricated geographies and elements of
globalisation, places continue to give meaning to people’s lives and music” (2003: 70). Therefore, it is
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worthwhile to study how and why the urban environment impacts on musical experience in
Braamfontein, Newtown, and Maboneng.

This study was inspired by my own experiences in and of the city, with the realisation that the
change from experiencing music in the suburbs to experiencing it in the inner city was not only
significant in terms of Johannesburg’s socio-spatial history but also an important one in the shaping
of my musical experiences; and therefore my identity. As Johannesburg continues to evolve and
develop, it is important not only to document and analyse its physical changes but also to
investigate the changing character of its peoples and cultures. Every small segment that constitutes
Johannesburg as a city builds together to tell a more complete history; and with urban renewal and
regeneration at the forefront of the inner city’s current agenda, the narratives that constitute this
specific aspect of the city are of great significance. Spaces such as Braamfontein, Newtown, and
Maboneng have often been written about because of their rich accounts of successes and failures in
rebuilding themselves.2 However, little research has yet been done on the ways in which (and the
reasons for which) these redevelopment projects have influenced the movements of suburbanites, in
particular youths, towards the city; and, more specifically, how these youths are reappropriating the
once-forgotten social spaces of the inner city through cultural activity. I hope that by focusing on
the experiences and thoughts of individuals taking part in the current agenda, insight into the
human experiences of regeneration projects – and the ways in which they affect identity, behaviour,
and lifestyles – can be used in thinking about future projects in Johannesburg and beyond.
Documenting the ‘new’ city’s music – the ‘soundtrack’ that enlivens its spaces and people – also adds
to the city’s current narrative, which will one day, too, constitute its history. My first hand
experiences and close identification with the topic and its participants will hopefully result in an
honest and valuable account.

Using the voices of seven middle-class suburban youths to track personal narratives of experiences
of and interactions with the ‘new’ inner city, I aim to illustrate the impact that the city’s
transformation, and the products and offshoots that have resulted from it, have had on these
suburbanites, including the transformative effects it has
had on their individual, collective, and musical identities. Informant 1: Saul
My seven ‘informants’ give accounts of the inner city’s Saul is studying music at the
University of the Witwatersrand
music scenes in which they participate, revealing the
(Wits) and plays drums in a local rock
concurrent transformation of the inner city’s musical band. The 21-year-old grew up in, and
profile as its spaces and people have changed. The remains living in, Norwood. He sings
in a choir and enjoys trying out
informants, who are briefly introduced in the text boxes
different bars and restaurants.
throughout this introduction, play important roles in

2 For example, see Hedley (2013), Zehender (2014), Pitock (2014[a]), Taitz (2013), Burocco (2013), Pitman
(2013), Venema (2015).