On a sunny afternoon in August, Rootspring arrived to set up for a field recording at the home of Ilsa and Neil in Zeekoevlei, Cape Town. Their lush garden that overlooks the wide banks of the river provided a relaxing atmosphere for the musicians to settle into their creative selves, whilst a bush of chameleons overlooked the activity from all angles.

The central aim of this study is to identify those features in the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens that derive from Indigenous African music and show how they have been transformed to become part of popular idioms.