Amapiano tv Entertainment, Mar 8, 2020
Girl
dancing to amapiano with whistle from Twitter🔥🔥 #amapiano #whistlechallenge #yanos dances
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This is the second post in an ongoing pancocojams series about the cultural meanings of and uses for blowing whistles (instruments) in various Black cultures throughout the world.*
This pancocojams post showcases "The Whistle Girl", a young South African woman who gained fame when a TikTok video of her blowing a whistle while dancing Amapiano music went viral in 2020. The videos, information, and comments in this post serve as examples of how blowing a whistle can add aesthetically pleasing sound to recorded music.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks Reneiloe Seemane for her cultural legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos online.
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*Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/02/some-traditional-meanings-contemporary.html "Some Traditional Meanings & Contemporary Uses For Whistles" for the first post in this pancocojams series.
Except for that first post, all posts in this pancocojams series are published in no particular order.
Subsequent posts can be found under various tags that include the words "blowing whistles" (such as "blowing whistles history", "blowing whistles during social dancing", and "blowing whistles drum majors").
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/information-about-amapiano-information.html for an April 2024 pancocojams post entitled "Information About Amapiano & About The Song "Tshwala Bam", The Latest Amapiano Record That Has Gone Viral In South African & Worldwide."
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DIFFERENTIATING "BLOWING A WHISTLE" FROM "WHISTLING"
1. From https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › whistle
"The meaning of WHISTLE is a small wind instrument in which sound is produced by the forcible passage of breath through a slit in a short tube."
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2. From https://www.google.com/search?q=a+whistle+definition
"whistling
a clear, high-pitched sound made by forcing breath through a small hole between partly closed lips, or between one's teeth.
"the audience cheered and whistled" "
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR SHOWCASE VIDEO #1
All of the comments in that discussion thread are from 2020 and 2021.
Notice the use of other examples of African American Vernacular English in a number of other comments from South Africans in this discussion thread.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYZzADFVlAY
2020
1. @ernestmbwana6282
"She's real music referee ..
I love her energy 😘"
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2. @chrispusgithaiga383
"In swahili we call this 'haitaki hasira' "
3.
"Covid came along and put a speed bump on her career. It's
level 1 swiri! Buya phela!
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Google translate results for "Buya Phela" is "come back later." However, I doubt that's the correct vernacular meaning for that saying.
Reply
4.@lorenzom6138
"
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YouTube automatic translation - "Coast Iclear, don't come back 😄"
5.
"She makes the original sound kak"
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Reply
6. @amapianotventertainment5576
"True🔥."
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Here's the meaning of the word "kak" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_slang_word
"kak – Literal translation: shit, crap, rubbish, nonsense (vulgar), of very wide usage. Also used as a way of further expressing one's feeling in language, for example, instead of "that girl is pretty" one can say emphatically "that girl is kak pretty!"
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Based on the example which is given for that definition, and based on the reply for that comment, my guess is that in the context of this discussion, "kak" is a form of the African American Vernacular English term "the sh-t", meaning something or someone that is (or is done) exceptionally well. In other words, these two commenters really like Whistle Girl's adding whistle bursts to the sound of that record.
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7.@khangwelopreciousmafunise6742
"First one... The name of the song ... Thebelebe_jebson"
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8. @marylyn6290
"Still waiting on her remix"
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Reply
9. @amapianotventertainment5576
"We're all waiting. 🔥"
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10. @sufyanbakher6886
"Only in mzansi🔥"
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"Mzansi" = a referent for the nation of South Africa.
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11. @kennethskabalanjana5077
"Wow she can dance 👋👋👋👋👋👋👏👏👏👏👏👏"
**
Reply
12. @amapianotventertainment5576
"🔥🔥🔥🔥!"
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2021
13, @nonexistent951
"Lmaooo this is 🔥 shawty mad lit"
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AN ARTICLE ABOUT WHISTLE GIRL (complete reprint)
From https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/whistle-girl-blows-her-way-to-fame/ "Whistle Girl blows her way to fame" by adminadmin Bmetro, September 25, 2020
"Better known as the Whistle Girl who burns the dance floor at parties, her name is Reneiloe Seemane and she says that her love affair with the whistle comes from her dream of leading a marching band.
Seemane, 19, became an overnight Twitter sensation after a video of her dancing while whistle-blowing went viral on social media and won the hearts of many South Africans including some influential people. Mzansi even dubbed her Ngwana Referee (Referee’s child).
The whistle-blowing came naturally to the amapiano dancer, who says it was inspired by a fantasy she created in her head of leading diturupa (marching band).
“The whistle with me has always been a must at grooves (parties) because that’s how I keep myself entertained. I guess one can say that the whistle thing came naturally because I have always wanted to play it and be the girl at the front of diturupa, where the whistle is to direct the rhythm of the drums and the marching of the troops.”
Diturupa, which are styled on the black soldiers who returned home after World War 1, is a huge community movement in Pretoria, especially in the northern parts.
Seemane, who is from Lotus Gardens, Pretoria West, says that her “groove life” started during the past festive season when her parents decided to allow her to go to parties.
“The partying began in December when my sister Lebo spoke to my parents about letting me go with her since I was of age and the rest was history.”
Seemane says her parents were not shocked when the video went viral because they knew she had a wild side.
“I believe my parents understood or had an idea, they always knew that I tend to be a bit loud when I am at home and they have always said it’s because I was born on the 31st of December.”
Ngwana Referee started a YouTube channel where she speaks about groove and music in Spitori — the lingua franca of Pretorians. She says the channel adds to the fact that she always speaks to walls so she decided that speaking behind a camera wouldn’t be so bad.
Apart from being the life of the party, Seemane is a focused second-year university student."
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ADDITIONAL YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #2 - Mack Eaze - Ngwana Ref (Amapiano 2020)
Silence Katisi Media, May 14, 2020 #Amapiano #House #MackEaze
Limpopo Sound is a platform meant to promote Limpopo sound and South African House Music at large. The purpose of this channel is to promote latest, trending, underground, up-and-coming & local music with fair-use and zero intention to violate copyright.
Artist: #MackEaze
Track: #NgwanaRef
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This sound file is from Reneiloe Seemane (Whistle Girl) 's YouTube channel. This video This sound A video example from her channel (a sound file that features a drawing of her blowing a whistle; You can hear her blowing a whistle at various times while she plays this record (The whistle isn’t an original part of that record).
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #3 -dj lamiez vs whistle girl(ngwana ref)
@crazyteesa523, November 24, 2021
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #4 - Congratulations Whistle girl #amapianolifestyle 🔥🔥🇿🇦
@benchmarkingentertainment8001, June 19, 2022
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This YouTube video short shows The Whistle Girl wearing a university graduation robe and dancing in the back of a pick up truck parked on a street while blowing a whistle. Several other female graduates are also shown dancing to this record, but aren't blowing any whistles. A small crowd is also shown watching the dancing.
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