Modern voices, ancient songs | Young artists revive SA’s musical heritage

As the year winds down and the scent of woodsmoke drifts through township streets, the sound of drums, hymns, and ululations begins to rise once more.

But for many young South Africans, those once-familiar melodies — sung at weddings, homecomings, and ancestral ceremonies — feel like echoes from a distant past. The songs that once bound generations are slowly fading.

To bridge that gap between past and present, Castle Milk Stout has joined forces with five of the country’s most soulful voices — Zoë Modiga, Yanga Chief, Culoe De Song, Nduduzo Makhathini, and Mbuso Khoza — for a digital project titled Songs to Savour.

It’s more than a campaign. It’s a modern hymn to heritage — a call to remember who we are through the music that raised us.

Beyond the polished visuals and online rollouts lies something more human — a quiet yearning for continuity, belonging, and identity in a rapidly changing world.

YNews caught up with the artists to explore what heritage sounds like when reframed by a new generation.

For Yanga Ntshakaza, better known as Yanga Chief, hip-hop has always been a vessel for introspection and cultural reclamation.

“The deeper you dig in into knowing yourself, then you realise things like culture and heritage and the importance of the music that you make and the message that comes with it. I wouldn’t speak on hip-hop as a whole but it accommodates everyone who would like to know themselves,” he said.

He adds that his lyrics mirror his daily interactions — a reflection of how he lives and speaks.

“Because of being in the hip-hop space, it allows me freedom to expose my Xhosa language through my lyrics,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zoë Modiga — whose sound blends jazz, soul, and ancestral storytelling — views Songs to Savour as a conversation across time.

“These songs are not just about the past — they are about belonging,” she explains. “A platform like this gives young people a way to make heritage part of their daily rhythm, in a way that feels modern and accessible.”

For her, heritage is not a static archive — it’s a living classroom.

“Through my practice, I always try to bridge the gap by announcing my curiosity, by announcing myself as a student, by announcing that I come from a place of not knowing, and these songs that I have the blessings of sharing on stage here at home and the world to article that curiosity and the love I have for us,” she shares.

Mbuso Khoza, celebrated musician and cultural historian, speaks with the reverence of someone who knows that art can be an act of preservation.

“Music is not just melody — it is memory,” he says. “Each song carries the wisdom of elders, the comfort of community, and the identity of a people. If we do not sing them, they disappear.”

His words capture a familiar ache — that uneasy silence when an elder begins a song we no longer know the words to.

For Nduduzo Makhathini, whose work fuses philosophy and sound, traditional songs are not relics but living texts.

“Traditional songs are like books where our sacred knowledge lives, by placing them on a platform where anyone can sing along, Songs to Savour ensures that cultural education remains open, shared and enduring.”

And for Culoe De Song, whose global beats still pulse with ancestral rhythm, music remains the great connector.

“Music is the ultimate connector, it carries our ancestors’ voices while bringing people together in the present.”

The timing of this initiative feels poetic — arriving just as families prepare to gather for end-of-year ceremonies. Songs to Savour offers more than a playlist; it offers a compass — guiding younger generations back to the sounds that shaped their elders.

In the hands of these artists, heritage isn’t a relic or performance. It’s a living, breathing thing — evolving, expanding, and enduring every time someone decides to sing along.

Written by: Lebohang Ndashe