Strike David Vilakazi (also written Vilakezi) was a South African vocalist, drummer, trumpeter, composer, and music producer. He was known for composing the anti-apartheid song " Meadowlands", and for his career as a producer, during which he was influential in the development of ''

mbaqanga Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s. History Historically, laws such as the Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas Ac ...

''. __NOTOC__

"Meadowlands"

The settlement of

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians a ...

had been destroyed by the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government of South Africa in 1955, and its 60,000 inhabitants forcibly moved, many of them to a settlement known as Meadowlands. The forced relocation inspired Vilakezi to write "Meadowlands". "Meadowlands" was set to an "infectious jive beat". It featured music writer Todd Matshikiza on the piano. The lyrics of the song were written in three languages;

IsiZulu Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...

SeSotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free ...

, and ''

tsotsitaal Tsotsitaal is a vernacular derived from a variety of mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of Gauteng province (such as Soweto), but also in other agglomerations all over South Africa. ''Tsotsi'' is a Sesotho, Pedi or Tswana slang wor ...

'', or street slang. Superficially upbeat, the song was misinterpreted as being supportive of the move by the South African government; as a result, Vilakezi was congratulated for it by a government bureaucrat, and according to some sources, had an application for housing expedited. Originally performed by

Nancy Jacobs and Her Sisters Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...

, as with many other protest songs of this period, "Meadowlands" was made popular both within and outside South Africa by

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

, and it became an anthem of the movement against apartheid.

Production career

When he wrote "Meadowlands", Vilakezi was a "talent scout" for the music production company "Troubadour". From 1952 to 1970 he also ran the black division of the music production company True Tone Records. He was among the first musicians to affiliate with the organisation South African Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers, which sought to represent musicians in some legal matters. In 1962, its functions were largely taken over by the

Southern African Music Rights Organisation SAMRO, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation, is a copyright asset management society. It was established by the South African Copyright Act, and aims to protect the intellectual property of music creators by licensing music users, col ...

(SAMRO). In 1954, he recorded

Spokes Mashiyane Johannes "Spokes" Mashiyane (born Vlakfontein (Mamelodi), Pretoria 20 January 1933; died at Baragwanath Hospital of cirrhosis of liver 9 February 1972) was regarded as one of the greatest pennywhistle artists who graced the South African kwela mu ...

playing the

pennywhistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

, and would later persuade Mashiyane that the same music would sound better on a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

. The music that resulted has been described as the earliest style of ''

'', a genre that would remain popular among black South Africans for many years.

Appropriation

In 1974

Bertha Egnos Bertha Egnos (1 January 1913 – 2 July 2003) was a South African musician, director, and composer in musical theatre, best known as the co-creator and director of '' Ipi Tombi''. Early life Bertha "BeBe" Egnos was born and raised in a Jewish fam ...

produced the play ''Ipi Tombi''. Vilakezi charged that she had appropriated some of his recorded music in the play's hit song "Mama Thembu's Wedding". Vilakezi's allegation was supported by an investigation by SAMRO. However, he was unable to obtain redress in court. Commentators have referred to this episode as an example of the widespread appropriation of black South African music (both traditional and contemporary, recorded music) by white artists, who then profited from them.

References

{{reflist, 24em South African musicians South African producers 20th-century drummers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century composers