Penny Penny

The South African musician, politician, and television personality known as Penny Penny ranks as Tsonga disco’s foremost figure. Through his opening release, the 1994 album Shaka Bundu, he forged a refreshed take on longstanding Tsonga traditions by merging house rhythms—typically deployed at reduced speeds—with electronic steel drums and call-and-response vocals performed in Xishangana, a regional form of the Tsonga language. His energetic presence together with an unmistakable sense of style quickly set him apart, turning the record into a double-platinum success that saw Penny Penny headline stadium shows across Africa. Strong sales persisted through the rest of the decade and into further releases during the 2000s, yet shifting listener preferences eventually prompted him to leave music behind and enter politics. Reissued globally to widespread praise in 2013—the first occasion any of his work reached listeners beyond South Africa—the album sparked renewed interest that drew him back to performing and recording. On 2018’s Ganda Ganda he adopted a harder-edged approach he labeled “heavy gum,” akin to Shangaan electro, whereas 2019’s Silima Watolovela incorporated elements from South African club styles including gqom and amapiano.

Born in Limpopo in 1960 as the youngest of 68 children to a traditional healer who maintained 25 wives, Giyani Kulani Kobane (originally credited as Eric Kobane) first earned the nickname Penny while dancing and collecting several breakdancing titles in the 1980s during shifts at a gold mine. After relocating to Johannesburg in search of employment, he held positions as a fast-food cook and cleaner; a stint at Selwyn Shandel’s studio introduced him to Tsonga disco producer Joseph Shirimani, with whom he expressed a desire to collaborate. The pair laid down demos that convinced Shandel to green-light a full album completed in a single week using an Atari computer, a Korg M1 synthesizer, and reel-to-reel tape. Echoing contemporaneous American and European house productions yet distinguished by Penny’s rugged lead vocals, female backing singers’ call-and-response patterns, and lyrics in a localized Tsonga dialect, Shaka Bundu achieved enormous commercial impact, moving 250,000 units and reaching the top of the South African albums chart. Its domestic breakthrough proved unexpected given the regional language, though the reception helped shift attitudes toward Shangaan music overall. Shirimani quickly became a sought-after producer, while the album’s backing vocalists issued further recordings as Shaka Bundu Girls under Penny’s production and arrangements. He himself assumed the mantle of King of Shangaan Disco from his late mentor Peta Teanet, who died in 1996.

Penny Penny’s follow-up, 1996’s Yogo Yogo, surpassed the debut by attaining triple-platinum certification. Subsequent efforts Laphinda Shangaan (1997) and Makantja Jive (1998) likewise outsold Shaka Bundu, although rampant piracy forced him to maintain income through nonstop touring. He issued the brisker Ta Makhwaya No. 1 on EMI in 1999, then teamed again with Shirimani for 2001’s Mariyeta Maria and 2002’s Ndiwe Ndiwe. Additional albums appeared via Cool Spot Productions, culminating in the 2009 collaboration The King vs. the General with General Muzka. By then his popularity had waned, leading him to join the African National Congress as a council member.

His catalog experienced revival after American ethnomusicologist and DJ Brian Shimkovitz uploaded Shaka Bundu to the widely read Awesome Tapes from Africa blog in 2010. Shimkovitz spun selections in his DJ sets, generating international enthusiasm; years of outreach eventually located Penny, resulting in a worldwide ATFA reissue in 2013 that earned considerable acclaim. Penny formed an 18-piece road band, though only ten members joined the 2014 international itinerary that included New York City and a Sydney Opera House appearance in Australia. In 2017 he began appearing in the Mzansi Magic reality series Papa Penny Ahee.

Growing weary of the Shangaan Disco King designation, Penny Penny shifted toward a style he termed “heavy gum.” The 2018 album Ganda Ganda embodied this more forceful yet still festive direction, while 2019’s Silima Watolovela moved nearer to gqom and amapiano. His earlier recording “Shilungu” featured on Soundway’s 2019 compilation Esa Presents Amandla: Music to the People and surfaced separately as a 12-inch single. ATFA reissued Yogo Yogo in 2020.