Mbube

Mbube is a South African a cappella choral style for male voices, forged in the hostels and choir competitions of migrant workers in Durban and Johannesburg from the 1930s. Named after *Solomon Linda*'s 1939 song "Mbube" — 'lion' in Zulu — it sets a high, delicate lead voice against close-harmonised lower parts that answer in call-and-response, all shaped by the all-night ingoma ebusuku ('music of the night') contests. Its blend of Zulu traditional song, Christian hymnody and ragtime-era harmony later softened into isicathamiya, the style *Ladysmith Black Mambazo* carried worldwide.