Shifty Records
- This article is about the South African music label. For the metal label, see Shifty Records (USA).
Founded by Lloyd Ross and Warrick Sony, Shifty Records was a South African anti-apartheid record label which existed for over a decade beginning 1983.
Aimed at providing a platform for independent music with a social message, Shifty was an outlet for numerous South African musicians opposed to apartheid. As a result, Shifty struggled to gain exposure on the radio stations of the Broederbond-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation. However, its anti-establishment stance was appealing to young and politically marginalized South Africans. This was evident when poet Mzwakhe Mbuli's unadvertised Change is Pain went gold after the apartheid regime banned[1] possession and distribution of the album.
The label helped establish boerepunk and the alternative Afrikaans genre at a time when it was a reflex to stereotype all Afrikaners as supporters of the National Party. Operating from a caravan hitched to a Ford V6 truck, the Shifty studio would produce an album every two months until 1993.
Artists
Artists appearing on the label included:
- Bernoldus Niemand
- Corporal Punishment
- The Genuines
- Happy Ships
- Isja
- James Phillips & The Cherry Faced Lurchers
- Jennifer Ferguson
- Johannes Kerkorrel
- Kalahari Surfers
- National Wake
- Noise Khanyile
- Sankomota
- Simba Morri
- Tananas
- Vusi Mahlasela
- Winstons Jive Mixup
- Sloth (Ohio)