gqom

English

Etymology

Derived from an onomatopoeic combination of click consonants from the Zulu language, representing the sound of a drum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoʊm/

Noun

gqom (uncountable)

1. (music) A minimalistic style of house music from South Africa.
   • 2018 September 4, “Lokodo: This ugly thing called Nyege Nyege not happening this year”, in Daily Monitor‎^[1]:

     South African artists include rapper Sho Madjozi, gqom acts Rude Boyz, Dominowe and Phatstoki, and sgubhu producer Sleeping Buddah.

   • 2018, Matthew Collin, Rave On: Global Adventures in Electronic Dance Music, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 202:

     Although gqom's early history is blurry, its originators generally agree that it first emerged from Durban around the start of the 2010s, recorded using pirated software, shared on social media and by mobile phone, and popularised by minibus-taxi drivers who blasted the sound to attract young passengers to ride with them.