Vusi Mahlasela
A man whose music was a source of inspiration to many during the horrors of apartheid, there are few South African artists as successful and influential as Vusi Mahlasela. With his work focusing on themes of oppression and the battle for freedom, as well as peace and forgiveness, Mahlasela creates music that epitomised the experience of many South Africans during the apartheid era.
Born in 1965 in Lady Selborne, South Africa, Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane caught the musical bug at a very young age. After making his first guitar from fishing line and tin, Mahlasela’s talent was cultivated in Mamelodi Township, where he still lives today. Living in a community that openly encouraged artistic endeavour, the teenage Mahlasela experimented with both poetry and song writing before joining a youth movement dedicated to opposing apartheid. Mahlasela’s talent with words soon saw him become an inspiration to those around him, and the young artist began reading his poems at funerals and protest marches. As well as making him popular within his community, Mahlasela’s works made him notorious with the local police force, who routinely harassed him, confiscated his poems and monitored his whereabouts.
In the late 1980s, Mahlasela became part of the Congress of South African Writers, and his talent began to blossom. There he met the likes of Lesego Rampolokeng, Phillip Tabane and Miriam Makeba, all of whom would become massive influences on his work. Mahlasela made his official debut in 1991 with his song, ‘When You Come Back’, and after the fall of apartheid he performed at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela in 1994. He continued to release a number of albums for the remainder of the decade, making him one of the most popular musicians in South Africa. However, it wasn’t until the worldwide release of documentary film ‘Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony’ in 2003, that Mahlasela came to the attention of a larger audience. The film focused on the role of music during the struggle against apartheid, and Mahlasela’s performance won him a number of rave reviews, with LA Times critic Robert Hilburn calling his voice “pure and commanding”.
Off the back of this success, Mahlasela released compilation album ‘The Voice’ in the US via ATO Records, which was co-owned by Dave Matthews, a fellow South African. Despite being mostly sung in Mahlasela’s native tongue, the album was a huge success, resonating strongly with an American audience still in a state of shock after the attacks of September 11th 2001. Two years later, Mahlasela worked on the soundtrack of critically-acclaimed movie ‘Tsotsi’ in 2005, which furthered his reputation as one of South Africa’s finest musicians.
Mahlasela’s most recent album, ‘Naledi Ya Tsela (Guiding Star)’, made number 12 in the Billboard Top World Albums chart, and won him a South African Music Award for Best Male Artist. Although Mahlasela hasn’t released anything since, he still remains an active live performer, most recently appearing at the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert on 10th June 2010. UK television channel ITV even chose ‘When You Come Back’ as the theme for the opening credits of their World Cup coverage. The channel’s producers clearly realised what South Africans have known for decades – if you are looking for a sound that captures the soul of the nation, look no further than Vusi Mahlasela.
