My City_My Life South African taxis drive sales in dance music

DJ Mujava's "Township Funk" became the surprise global club anthem of last year, an instant favorite on dance floors everywhere, with its ear-popping mix of incessant, driving snare drums and retro electronic noises.

Its distinctive sound is part of a larger scene known as Township House that comes straight from the townships of Pretoria.

But its improbable journey to glitzy superclubs around the world may never have happened without the help of South Africa's taxi drivers.

South Africa has long been a voracious consumer of imported European House music, but over the last few years a small group of producers in Pretoria have begun experimenting with their own sound, more representative of the music of the townships they live in.

They came up with a style that mixes the raw beats of the South African hip-hop style called Kwaito with House music's tempos and electronic sounds.

But the problem for the Pretorian producers was getting their music heard. Neither the radio stations nor the big record labels in South Africa were interested in their rough-and-ready sound -- so the producers decided to go directly to the public
My City_My Life
Each month CNN visits the world's coolest cities with the celebrities who know them best.
see full schedule »

DJ Qness writes for South African dance music magazine BPM and works for Mujava's record label, Sheer Music. "In South Africa, the easiest way to the people is through the taxis," he told CNN.

South African taxis are actually small mini buses and are by far the most popular mode of public transport in a country where car ownership is limited. A Pretoria University study estimates that between five and 10 million South Africans use taxis every day.

The Township House pioneers began to give CDs of their tracks to taxi drivers. The drivers played the CDs to a captive audience of commuters and the response was incredible.

Passengers wanted to know where they could buy the tracks they were hearing, and with no record stores stocking the music, taxi drivers began selling CDs directly from taxi ranks and roadside stalls.