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Fresh from a performance with Doja Cat (Kiss me More) at Coachella, this a capella troupe is taking the world by storm.
Pastor (Ntokozo Bright Magcaba), Duzie (Melokuhle Mkhungo), Guduza (Sphelele Hlophe), Sthombe (Phelelani Sithole) and Marcus (Sanele Ngcobo) have been together since meeting at school.
The Joy is the result of five teenage boys from the South African township of Hammarsdale turning up to their school choir practice earlier than the other boys; early enough to spontaneously jam a new song into existence.
The tradition of a capella singing is central to the Zulu culture, and has a worldwide following: Ladysmith Black Mambazo perhaps being the most famous examples of isicathamiya music. The Joy’s harmonies hark back to yet another vocal tradition. Mbube means ‘lion’, which gives some indication of the elemental power its practitioners summon when bursting into song.
Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson pronounce themselves fans, the latter calling them “my favorite group” and inviting them onto her talk show.
They have also appeared on the BBC coverage of Glastonbury and on Later with Jools Holland. Sessions produced by longtime champion Two Inch Punch amass millions of streams either in spite or because of the fact that they correspond to nothing else in the modern musical firmament.
