Both Modern Day A Cappella and Isicathamiya are two styles of music that are different forms of a cappella, a medium of music that consists of a soloist or group singing a composition without instruments supporting the vocalists (there's no instrumentation involved to serve as an accompaniment). Modern day a cappella musical arrangements generallyfocuse more on contemporary songs that we typically hear on the radio instead of sacred, religious songs (Although there are some Modern Day A Cappella arrangements for sacred pieces). Isicathamiya music is a combination between Christian choral singing, and blackface minstrelsy, a form of entertainment that flourished in the United States and England in the mid-to late 19th century. Modern day a cappella music began to develop and flourish as technology progressed. As a result of advanced technology, a new type of a cappella music developed called "overdubbing" which is when singers record themselves many times singing the same song over and over again but singing different parts. (Imogen Heap's song "Hide and Seek" is a variation of overdubbing; she performed a sole accompaniment of the song and transformed the sound using a keyboard synthesizer altered by a vocoder, (vocal transformer) creating an altered a cappella sound.)
The style of Isicathamiya music is derived from traditional call-and-response vocal music and is combined with an open church-like sound. Isicathamiya music is also derived from African and Zulu roots and most Isicathamiya music focuses on either religious themes or on African heritage. (We see this in Ladysmith Black Mambazo's rendition of "Wimoweh" or "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", adapted by Soloman Linda from the traditional Zulu melody "Mbube".)
Both of these musical styles are very unique and are different in some ways, but very alike in other aspects.
