Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced ''duu-beh'';
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007 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
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
in a 25-year period and was South Africa's as well as Africa's biggest-selling reggae superstar to date.
[Five facts about reggae star Lucky Dube](_blank)
''Reuters'', 19 October 2007
, ''Reuters'', 19 October 2007. On the evening of 18 October 2007, Dube was murdered in the
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
suburb of
Rosettenville by hijackers who allegedly did not recognise him and
assumed he was a Nigerian.
[Hijackers gun down Lucky Dube](_blank)
, News24.com, 19 October 2007[S African reggae star shot dead](_blank)
''BBC News'', 19 October 2007,
Biography
Early life
Lucky Dube was born in
Ermelo, formerly of the Eastern
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
, now of
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
, 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.
[ Car jacker kills reggae star](_blank)
''CNN'', 19 October 2007. 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."
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
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''.
While at school he discovered the
Rastafari movement
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...
. At the age of 18 Dube joined his cousin's band,
The Love Brothers, playing
Zulu pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
known as
mbaqanga
Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music with rural Zulu music, Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.
History
Historically, laws such as the Natives' Land Act, Land Act ...
whilst funding his lifestyle by working for Hole and Cooke as a security guard at the car auctions in
Midrand
Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
History
Midrand was established as a municipality in 198 ...
. The band signed with Teal Record Company, under
Richard Siluma (Teal was later incorporated into
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest (and oldest independent) record label in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Arena Holdings. The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two South African record label ...
). 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.
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 concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety ...
s. Drawing inspiration from
Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...
[Basildon Petain]
South African reggae star shot dead in front of his children
, ''The Independent'', 19 October 2007. and
Peter Tosh
Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963â ...
,
he felt the socio-political messages associated with Jamaican reggae were relevant to a South African audience in an
institutionally racist
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...
society.
He decided to try the new musical genre and in 1984, released the
mini album
A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...
''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"''.
[Condolences pour in for Lucky Dube](_blank)
, ''SABC'', 19 October 2007. 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.
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.
[Discography](_blank)
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007 His 1993 album, ''
Victims
Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to:
People
* Crime victim
* Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis
Films and television
* ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...
,'' sold over one million copies worldwide.
In 1995, he earned a worldwide recording contract with
Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
. His album ''Trinity'' was the first release on
Tabu Records
Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label, Tabu Records, focused on R&B and funk.
Founding
Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu Record's flagship ...
after Motown's acquisition of the label.
In 1996, he released a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, ''Serious Reggae Business'', which led to him being named the "Best Selling African Recording Artist" at the
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world's ...
and the "International Artist of the Year" at the
Ghana Music Awards
The Ghana Music Awards, currently known as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music awards event in Ghana established in 1999 by a local event organizer and planner company known as CharterHouse to origi ...
. His next three albums each won
South African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...
.
His album, ''Respect'', earned a European release through a deal with
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
.
Dube toured internationally, sharing stages with artists such as
Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
,
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
, and
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
.
He appeared at the 1991
Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival. The festival ran annually until 1996, with a final event in 1998, befo ...
(uniquely that year, was invited back on stage for a 25-minute-long encore) and the 2005
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...
event in Johannesburg.
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''.
[Who's Who: Lucky Dube](_blank)
, News24, Retrieved 10 October 2007.
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
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
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.
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.
Death
On 18 October 2007, Lucky Dube was killed by hijackers in Rosettenville, a suburb in southern Johannesburg, shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle's house. Dube was driving his
Chrysler 300C, which the assailants were after. Police reports suggest the hijackers did not recognise him and believed that he was a Nigerian. Five men were arrested in connection with the murder; three were tried and found guilty on 31 March 2009. Two of the men attempted to escape and were caught. The men were sentenced to life in prison.
Legacy
On 21 October 2008,
Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
History
Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...
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.
The
Roots Reggae Library
The Roots Reggae Library is a website that lists reviews of discographies of reggae artists. It contains detailed written descriptions of albums, songs and the style of the artist. There are currently 33 discographies on the website. The content o ...
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.
As one of the first artists to bring African reggae to the mainstream, Dube bridged cultural gaps within the
African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...
. What Lucky Dube's music did was "
resent
Resentment (also called ranklement or bitterness) is a complex, multilayered emotion that has been described as a mixture of disappointment, disgust and anger. Other psychologists consider it a mood or as a secondary emotion (including cogniti ...
a praxis of cross-culturality and visionary possibility"
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
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
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.
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.
This helped “legitimize and strengthen the oppositional gesture in popular African music and culture, particularly for those generations born after decolonization.
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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Lucky Dube's music has found resonance in remote
Australian Aboriginal
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
communities, and his popularity has led Lucky Dube to be called "Bigger than the
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
" throughout much of central and northern Australia.
In 2005, Dube was a touring act in
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, in
central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...
, promoted by entrepreneur Scott Boocock, on advice from his friend, Joe Miller, a
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
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
Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
It is the smalle ...
, and
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
.
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
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
'' (1987)
* ''Together As One'' (1988)
* ''Prisoner'' (1989)
* ''Captured Live'' (1990)
* ''House of Exile'' (1991)
* ''
Victims
Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to:
People
* Crime victim
* Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis
Films and television
* ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...
'' (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'' (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
Further reading
* Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre, ''Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music'' (Book Sales, August 1995). ,
External links
'Photo-interview with sounds' produced by Classical Reggae Interviews. This interview was used by the BBC London to produce a radio report about the death of Lucky Dube!Lucky Dube at discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dube, Lucky
1964 births
2007 deaths
People from Ermelo, Mpumalanga
Zulu people
Deaths by firearm in South Africa
People murdered in Johannesburg
South African reggae musicians
South African male actors
South African murder victims
South African Rastafarians
Wrasse Records artists
Rykodisc artists
20th-century South African male singers
Afrikaans-language singers
Anti-apartheid activists
Roots Reggae Library
21st-century South African male singers
2007 murders in South Africa