Lucky Dube

Lucky Dube, born Ermelo Dube and pronounced “doo bay,” ranks among South Africa’s top-selling performers and ranks equally among its most outspoken voices. He first performed in the traditional Zulu mbaqanga idiom, yet his 1984 shift to reggae arose directly from a desire to voice outrage at apartheid’s oppression. The Village Voice observed, “The spirit of Lucky Dube’s music and dance epitomizes the spirit of Black liberation,” while Niceup Magazine wrote, “(Dube’s) lyrics have brought an original voice to reggae by chronicling the political and spiritual struggles of his South African brethren.” Signs of musical ability surfaced early; at nine he already directed his school choir. After appearing with school rock-and-roll groups, he entered his cousin Richard Siluma’s mbaqanga outfit, the Love Brothers, and with them issued his debut single in 1979. Peter Tosh’s controversial songwriting prompted the 1984 embrace of reggae. South Africa’s then-all-white government resisted these initial efforts, barring his first reggae album, Rasta Never Die, from radio. Dube therefore returned to the studio without informing his label and recorded the follow-up Think About the Children, which became a major success and earned gold certification. His third reggae album, Slave, moved more than five hundred thousand copies.