Re: Lucky Dube, Respect Full Album Zip
Cre Wallace
FARAI CHIDEYA, host: The murder of South African reggae legend Lucky Dube continues to reverberate throughout South Africa and the continent. Lucky Dube was shot last Thursday night in what appears to have been a botched carjacking in a Johannesburg suburb. It's only the latest high profile killing in South Africa, a country that's becoming increasingly overwhelmed by violent crime. Our Africa correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton joins me now with more. So, obviously, tragic news. And carjackings are one of the most prevalent crimes in South Africa. What do we know about what happened last Thursday night? OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON: Well, what the police said is that Lucky Dube was dropping off two teenage - his two teenage children - a girl and a boy - at a relative's house in Rosettenville, a suburb in southern Johannesburg. And the children had got out - the young people have got out of the car, then it appears several men - armed - walked after the car and shot Lucky Dube. So there is speculation whether this is an attempted carjacking or whether it was premeditated and whether it was a hit. It seems that then he tried to get away by driving the car forward, hit another the car, and then hit a tree, and was declared dead at the scene. CHIDEYA: Has anyone from the South African government spoken about the murder? QUIST-ARCTON: Oh, yes. And even President Thabo Mbeki has spoken and sent his condolences to the family. And he also made an appeal to South Africans to what he said confront together the scourge of crime. Listen to President Mbeki. (Soundbite of archived recording) President Thabo Mbeki (South Africa): It is indeed very, very sad that this happens to an outstanding South African and outstanding musician, world-renowned. And I'd really like to convey our condolences to his family, to all music lovers in our country and the rest of the world and to all our people. QUIST-ARCTON: Now, Farai, that's what President Thabo Mbeki said. But a lot of South Africans and others are saying the government is not doing enough about high crime - violent crimes like this in South Africa, that the death of Lucky Dube - the killing of Lucky Dube has highlighted the problem. But South Africa needs to move on because, of course, it's hosting the soccer World Cup championship in 2010. CHIDEYA: Now, what are the violent crime statistics in South Africa? And any reason that people can put together for the high crime rate? QUIST-ARCTON: Nineteen thousand murders annually. 52 people are murdered each day, apparently, in South Africa; 200,000 robberies a year. So these are really staggering, alarming statistics. If you look back in history, of course, during the apartheid era, violence was actually promoted by the apartheid government, and often, it was black-on-black violence. So South Africa has a history of weapons and a history of gun ownership. Rape, of course, is another one. And all these negative images of South Africa are filtering out. And people are saying, it's got to stop. CHIDEYA: Let's talk a little bit about Lucky Dube's musical legacy. For those who don't follow reggae, who was he? And what's his place in the galaxy of modern South African music? QUIST-ARCTON: He was a 43-year-old reggae star. But back in the '80s, that's not the music that Lucky Dube started with. He actually started singing traditional Zulu Mbaquanga music. But he said that he felt that the pull of reggae, the appeal of reggae, the universality of reggae suited more his message and, of course, the social commentary he became very famous for. So he switched to reggae, and this was during the apartheid era, and felt that his message could go farther. (Soundbite of song, "Respect") Mr. LUCKY DUBE (Reggae Singer): (Singing) Through his prophets I have learned. To give respect to everything he created. I give love to those who give me love. Love to those who give me war. CHIDEYA: So we've been listening to the title song "Respect" from his latest CD. What was the concept for that record? QUIST-ARCTON: Literally that. I think the word says it all. You know what, let's listen to Lucky Dube talking about why he called his final album "Respect." Mr. DUBE: The song "Respect," you know, in the past, we talked about togetherness, we talked about one love, we talked about unity, but we forgot to talk about respect because all of that doesn't mean anything if there's no respect. You cannot love a person if you don't respect them. CHIDEYA: Reggae has often been used as a political tool. And Lucky Dube came of age during some of the hottest years of apartheid. So how did he use that music during that time? QUIST-ARCTON: Well, he was a very young man, of course, during the height of apartheid. But his messages were always very strong and very much to ordinary people that there should be unity, together as one. Titles even of his songs, "Slave," don't be a slave, "Prisoner," don't be a prisoner. And he very much used the lyrics, and he felt that reggae was the beat that sent the message even better to say no to apartheid. CHIDEYA: What, internationally, are people saying about this murder? QUIST-ARCTON: That it shouldn't have happened, that Lucky Dube had another 50 years left in him. It really has had an impact, not just in Africa, but across the globe because, of course, Lucky Dube performed and toured internationally. We're told from his Web site that his last series of concerts was in the United States. So I think this has stunned many, many people, and as I say, has shone the spotlight again on South Africa and its problem of high crime. CHIDEYA: Five suspects were actually arrested. What do we know about them? QUIST-ARCTON: Not very much yet. They were supposed to appear in court today. I heard a police spokesman saying some of them were not South Africans, could have been from neighboring Mozambique. And, of course, this is the sort issue that has caused problems in South Africa before: People saying that it's not South Africans were the main perpetrators of crime, but people from neighboring countries - Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Farmer Field(ph), Nigeria, Ghana. And it's the sort of issue that has caused problems between black South Africans and other Africans. So we'll have to wait to see whether, indeed, Mozambiquans were involved in the murder of Lucky Dube. CHIDEYA: Ofeibea, what will Lucky Dube's legacy be do you think? QUIST-ARCTON: A huge musical heritage. In the 20 odd years that he was an international singer, he made 22 albums. And that starts from Lucky Dube's singing traditional South African music, of course, through his reggae years, and then to his years absolutely at the forefront of African reggae. And I think many people are going to remember his message. He took issue with leaders who he found were bad leaders in Africa, not just in South Africa. He talked to ordinary Africans, telling them that they must overcome the problems of the continent, that they must fight back, but that they must do it with love, respect and, especially, togetherness. So I think that will very much be the legacy of the late Lucky Dube. CHIDEYA: Ofeibea, thank you so much. QUIST-ARCTON: Always a pleasure. CHIDEYA: NPR's Africa correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton - she spoke with us from her base in Dakar, Senegal. (Soundbite of song, "Slave") Mr. DUBE: (Singing) Now I'm a slave Unidentified Group: (Singing) Slave. Mr. DUBE: (Singing) A slave. Unidentified Group: (Singing) Slave. Mr. DUBE: (Singing) I'm a slave, just a liquor slave. Unidentified Group: (Singing) Liquor slave.
"Hey you Rasta man. Hey European, Indian man. We've got to come together as one," go the lyrics to his anti-apartheid hit Together as One.Unity, peace, freedom and respect were Lucky Dube's mantras.At the age of 18 he recorded his first album playing traditional mbaqanga music, but it was a genre that he felt constrained his ambition. South Africa has always been a very sad country Music journalist Peter Makurube "Mbaqanga is only known in southern Africa and it's mostly sung in Zulu. I wanted my music to be heard - my message - not only in South Africa. Reggae music is found everywhere so reggae was my first vehicle to take this message across to people in the world," the singer told the BBC shortly before his death.South African music journalist Peter Makurube, who knew him before he made it big, says Dube had to fight his record company to take up reggae."At the beginning his record producers wanted him to do the more popular mbaqanga, so he couldn't record any of his reggae songs - he sang those live at his concerts," he told the BBC."He actually paid with his own money to record the reggae that finally made him famous."HopeAnd his determination paid off for in the thousands upon thousands of tributes that were paid to Dube after his shooting on Thursday, it is his message that people remember. Lucky Dube pictured on his most recent album, Respect
Lucky Dube on music "It takes me back to the early stage of the Liberian civil crisis when we were looking for food and shelter - for somebody to give us back hope. It was the voice of Lucky Dube that brought hope to many Liberians," Liberian fan Tom Takor told the BBC on hearing about Dube's death.Like his musical mentor - the late reggae musician Peter Tosh - Dube was killed in a robbery.Shots were fired at his car as he was dropping off his two teenage children in Johannesburg, in circumstances his 1999 track Crime and Corruption says are all too common in South Africa:"Do you ever worry
About your car being taken away from you
In broad daylight
Down highway 54
Do you ever worry
About your wife becoming
The woman in black
Do you ever worry
About leaving home and
Coming back in a coffin
With a bullet through your head
So join us and fight this."Over his 25-year career it was not only his lyrics that spoke of pain and suffering."The melody comes with some sorrow," Ghanaian musician Batman Samini explains."It tells exactly where he's crying from. The right melody is carrying the right message to you. Most Ghanaians could tell South Africa's grief through Lucky's cry."Growing up during apartheid was not easy: Dube's parents split up before he was born and he spent much of his childhood with his grandmother as his mother struggled to make a living as a domestic servant.From an early age, he worked in gardens in white suburbs to pay for his schooling."South Africa has always been a very sad country - the racial divisions and the fact that Lucky came up the hard way explain his music - poverty and of course the early days in his career in the music industry was rough," says Makurube.No marijuanaBut Dube went on to build a huge career, tackling a range of social problems, and was particularly loved in Africa where he drew huge crowds.Lucky Dube's Rastas Never Die album was banned under apartheid"It meant a lot to him that the continent loved his music," says Makurube.Yet his friends and fans say the fame never went to his head."Off stage he was very unassuming but definitely a tiger on stage," says Makurube.Shy, gentle, friendly and dedicated are words that have been used to describe the 43-year-old singer who despite his Rasta image did not smoke marijuana, cigarettes or drink alcohol.He is survived by his new wife and seven children, including a three-month-old baby."Lucky would have wanted the world to remember him as someone who made a difference through his art, which I believe he did, his social messages people took to heart," Makurube says. "He didn't try to commercialise his music for popularity. People got the message that he tried to send out."
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