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Lucky Dube

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Lucky Dube
Born
Lucky Philip Dube

(1964-08-03)3 August 1964
Ermelo, Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa
Died18 October 2007(2007-10-18) (aged 43)
Rosettenville, Johannesburg, South Africa
Cause of deathGunshot Wound
OccupationMusician
Spouse
Thobekile Ngcobo
​
​
(m. 1989⁠–⁠2007)​
Musical career
GenresReggae, mbaqanga
Instrument(s)Guitar, Vocals, and keyboard
Years active1981–2007
LabelsRykodisc, Gallo Record Company

Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced duu-beh;[1] 3 August 1964 – 18 October 2007) was a South African reggae musician and rastafarian considered to be one of the most important musicians in the history of African music and one of the greatest reggae musicians of all time.The South African born but globally revered reggae legend recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English, and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's as well as Africa's biggest-selling reggae superstar to date.[2][3] Dube was murdered in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville on the evening of 18 October 2007.[3][4][5]

Biography

Early life

Lucky Dube was born in Ermelo, formerly of the Eastern Transvaal, now of Mpumalanga, on 3 August 1964. His parents separated before his birth, and he was raised by his mother, who named him Lucky because she considered his birth fortunate after a number of failed pregnancies.[6] Along with his two siblings, Thandi and Mandla, Dube spent much of his childhood with his grandmother, Sarah, while his mother relocated to work. In a 1999 interview, he described his grandmother as "his greatest love" who "multiplied many things to bring up this responsible individual that I am today."[7][8]

Beginning of his musical career

As a child Dube worked as a gardener but, as he matured, realizing that he wasn't earning enough to feed his family, he began to attend school. There he joined a choir and with some friends, formed his first musical ensemble called The Skyway Band.[8] While at school he discovered the Rastafari movement. At the age of 18 Dube joined his cousin's band, The Love Brothers, playing Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga whilst funding his lifestyle by working for Hole and Cooke as a security guard at the car auctions in Midrand. The band signed with Teal Record Company, under Richard Siluma (Teal was later incorporated into Gallo Record Company). Though Dube was still at school, the band recorded material in Johannesburg during his school holidays. The resultant album was released under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul. The second album was released soon afterwards, and this time Dube wrote some of the lyrics in addition to singing. It was around this same time when he began to learn English.[8]

Moving into reggae

On the release of his fifth album, Dave Segal (who became Dube's sound engineer) encouraged him to drop the "Supersoul" element of the name. All subsequent albums were recorded as Lucky Dube. At this time Dube began to note fans were responding positively to some reggae songs he played during live concerts. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy Cliff[9] and Peter Tosh,[7] he felt the socio-political messages associated with Jamaican reggae were relevant to a South African audience in an institutionally racist society.[9]

He decided to try the new musical genre and in 1984, released the mini album Rastas Never Die. The record sold poorly – around 4000 units – in comparison to the 30,000 units his mbaqanga records would sell. Keen to suppress anti-apartheid activism, the apartheid regime banned the album in 1985, because of its critical lyrics, for instance in the song "War and Crime".[10] However, he was not discouraged and continued to perform the reggae tracks live and wrote and produced a second reggae album. Think About The Children (1985). It achieved platinum sales status and established Dube as a popular reggae artist in South Africa, in addition to attracting attention outside his homeland.[8]

Commercial and critical success

Dube continued to release commercially successful albums. In 1989, he won four OKTV Awards for Prisoner, won another for Captured Live the following year and yet another two for House of Exile the year after.[11] His 1993 album, Victims, sold over one million copies worldwide.[2] In 1995, he earned a worldwide recording contract with Motown. His album Trinity was the first release on Tabu Records after Motown's acquisition of the label.[11]

In 1996, he released a compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, which led to him being named the "Best Selling African Recording Artist" at the World Music Awards and the "International Artist of the Year" at the Ghana Music Awards. His next three albums each won South African Music Awards.[11] His album, Respect, earned a European release through a deal with Warner Music.[2] Dube toured internationally, sharing stages with artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Gabriel, and Sting.[9] He appeared at the 1991 Reggae Sunsplash (uniquely that year, was invited back on stage for a 25-minute-long encore) and the 2005 Live 8 event in Johannesburg.[9]

In addition to performing music Dube was a sometime actor, appearing in the feature films Voice in the Dark, Getting Lucky, and Lucky Strikes Back.[12]

Lucky Dube is considered to be especially remarkable as a Dub Artist due to his lack of a diasporic cultural base. This was particularly due to the nature of Reggae and Dub being a platform for expression of displacement from the homeland. In Prisoner, the South African artist makes the genre his own by applying themes of apartheid and internal displacement.[13] In the song and music video, he is found disturbing the bounds of the genre by highlighting the toils of his own homeland. He was revolutionary in so far as he introduced a competing version to Reggae's constant tendency of romanticizing the utopian homeland of Africa.

Dube took Dub and used it as a platform to promote racial equality within Africa during the Apartheid. He used dub to frame his arguments about colonialism and the African Slave trade, and how he felt that Africa should be reclaimed by the black race.[14]

Death

On 18 October 2007, Lucky Dube was killed by armed robbers in Rosettenville, a Johannesburg suburb, shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle's house.[15] Dube was driving his Chrysler 300C, which the assailants were after. Police reports suggest he was shot dead by carjackers who did not recognise him and believed that he was a Nigerian.[16] Five men were arrested in connection with the murder;[17] three were tried and found guilty on 31 March 2009. Two of the men attempted to escape and were caught.[18] The men were sentenced to life in prison.[19]

Legacy

On 21 October 2008, Rykodisc released a compilation album entitled Retrospective, which featured many of Dube's most influential songs as well as previously unreleased tracks in the United States. The album celebrated Dube's music and honored the contributions he made to South Africa.[20] The Roots Reggae Library has taken steps to store digital versions of the Mbaqange albums made in the 80's. Five of the six albums have been retrieved. Ngikwethembe Na has yet to be found.[21] [22] As one of the first artists to bring African reggae to the mainstream, Dube bridged cultural gaps within the African diaspora. What Lucky Dube's music did was "[present] a praxis of cross-culturality and visionary possibility"[23] that the diaspora at large tends to erase. Dube gave Africa a voice and put its culture on the global stage by joining the global reggae community. Through taking Jamaican roots music back to its roots, he recontextualized the oppression and political struggles that reggae seeps itself in, bringing the basis of the diaspora back in conversation with the diaspora at large to allow for a more pan-African form of cultural expression. Dube's roots reggae brought African people to the table in terms of conversation about the black diaspora by mimicking Caribbean artists' assertions of African authenticity or racial utopia.[23] Lucky Dube ultimately shows how Africans have to find their way into the conversations of the Black Diaspora by mimicking their assertions of African authenticity or racial utopia. Dube catalyzed roots reggae's appearance as a popular form of protest song.[23] This helped “legitimize and strengthen the oppositional gesture in popular African music and culture, particularly for those generations born after decolonization.[23]

On 18 October 2017, Gallo Records South Africa released a 25 track limited edition commemorative album titled The Times We've Shared. The album features his biggest hits exclusive performances and 3 previously unreleased tracks.

In Australia, Lucky Dube's music has found resonance in remote Australian Aboriginal communities, and his popularity has led Lucky Dube to be called "Bigger than the Beatles" throughout much of central and northern Australia.[24] In 2005, Dube was a touring act in Alice Springs, in central Australia, promoted by entrepreneur Scott Boocock, on advice from his friend, Joe Miller, a disc jockey on local First Nations radio station CAAMA Radio, and he had noted that Dube's popularity was growing. Dube's Australian tour started in May 2005, and he played in Alice Springs (to a crowd of 4,000 people), Darwin, Northern Territory, and Cairns, Queensland.

Discography

Mbaqanga

  • Lengane Ngeyethu (1981)
  • Kudala Ngikuncenga (1982)
  • Kukuwe (1983)
  • Abathakathi (1984)
  • Ngikwethembe Na? (1985)
  • Umadakeni (1987)
  • Usizi

Afrikaans

  • Die Kaapse Dans ("Cape Dance") (1986) – as Oom Hansie
  • Help My Krap ("Help Me Scratch") (1986) EP – as Oom Hansie

Reggae

  • Rastas Never Dies (1984) EP
  • Remember Me (1994)
  • Think About the Children (1985)
  • Slave (1987)
  • Together As One (1988)
  • Prisoner (1989)
  • Captured Live (1990)
  • House of Exile (1991)
  • Victims (1993)
  • Trinity (1995)
  • Taxman (1997)
  • The way It Is (1999)
  • Soul Taker (2001)
  • The Other Side (2003)
  • Respect (2006)
  • Different Colours
  • It's not easy

Compilation

  • Serious Reggae Business sang by Dube and Richard (1996)
  • Live in Jamaica (2000)
  • The Rough Guide To Lucky Dube (2001)
  • Lucky Dube Live in Uganda (2003)
  • Retrospective (2008)
  • The Ultimate Lucky Dube (2011)
  • Lucky Dube meets Uganda's Buka Buka 2003
  • Lucky Dube meets Rwanda's souve souve 2004
  • The Times We've Shared (2017)
  • The Victim

References

  1. ^ Fun Facts, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
  2. ^ a b c Five facts about reggae star Lucky Dube, Reuters, 19 October 2007
  3. ^ a b S.Africa reggae icon shot and killed – radio Archived 21 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 19 October 2007.
  4. ^ Hijackers gun down Lucky Dube Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine, News24.com, 19 October 2007
  5. ^ S African reggae star shot dead, BBC News, 19 October 2007,
  6. ^ Car jacker kills reggae star, CNN, 19 October 2007.
  7. ^ a b "Getting Lucky". The Mail & Guardian. 26 August 1999. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d Finding reggae, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
  9. ^ a b c d Basildon Petain, South African reggae star shot dead in front of his children Archived 21 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 19 October 2007.
  10. ^ Condolences pour in for Lucky Dube Archived 21 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, SABC, 19 October 2007.
  11. ^ a b c Discography, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
  12. ^ Who's Who: Lucky Dube Archived 23 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, News24, Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  13. ^ Video on YouTube
  14. ^ Chude-Sokei, Louis (2011). "When Echoes Return: roots, diaspora and possible Africas (a eulogy)". Transition (104): 76–92.
  15. ^ "S. African Reggae Star Lucky Dube Killed in Attempted Car-Jacking | Voice of America - English". Voanews.com. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Why Lucky Dube was killed – IOL News". Iol.co.za. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Four arrests over SA star's death". BBC News. 21 October 2007.
  18. ^ Three Accused of the Murder of Lucky Dube Found Guilty Yahoo News, 31 March 2009
  19. ^ Reggae Star's Killers Get Life Independent, 3 April 2009.
  20. ^ Lucky Dube – Bio|Artists|RYKODISC Archived 1 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ de Vries, Anton E. (2015). "Lucky Dube". roots-reggae-library.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Derek Ekhoe. "Bongi Dube Almost Lost Her Life After An Accident". HitNaija. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  23. ^ a b c d Chude-Sokei, Louis (27 January 2011). "When Echoes Return: roots, diaspora and possible Africas (a eulogy)". Transition. 104: 76–92. Retrieved 3 January 2019 – via Project MUSE.
  24. ^ Stevens, Rhiannon. "'Bigger than the Beatles': The legacy of Lucky Dube". ABC. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 October 2019.

Further reading

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