The young quartet from Soweto marks the release of their album Udondolo with this beautiful new video.
Urban Village launches its call to black pride in a sparkling and irresistible video shot by young South African talent Justice Mukheli. “Dindi,” more commonly “dark dindi,” is a slang word used to describe dark-skinned people, mainly young women. The Urban Village song is addressing these women, who are sometimes tempted to bleach their skin. In response to this staggering act, the video simply aims to show the authentic beauty of these “dark Dindi” and encourages people from all walks of life to be proud of their skin colour, whatever it may be. The song also acts as a thumbs up to the 1-4-5 chord progression, which is particularly popular in South African music. Songs built on this chord sequence are commonly called “Dindi” because, by imitating the bass line, their cadence can sound similar to the word.
This new single also marks the release of their long-awaited album, Udondolo on the Parisian label No Format. It is a blend of lyrics imbued with the experiences of the South African people and traditional Zulu music from the provinces that were home to black South Africans before they were sent to work in the mines of Soweto. Everyone brought pieces of their village to this new city, and from these frictions an original culture was born, making Soweto a sprawling urban village. While others continue to dig for precious metals, the members of Urban Village exploit these multiple legacies to pay homage to their ancestors, located right there under their feet, with the hope of a unified people in tune with its past.
Udondolo is available on all download platforms via the No Format label.
Listen to Urban Village in our Songs of the Week playlist on Spotify and Deezer.
