A guest post by Takalani Jones giving an overview of Dancehall Scene mainly in Jozi.
Re-blogged from Mzansi Dancehall blogspot
Ever since reggae Icon Bob Marley visited Zimbabwe in 1980 for there independence celebration concert, the people across South Africa has adopted reggae music as one of its own.Africa’s first and most successful reggae artist is Lucky Dube. Most of his fans said that his style was modelled closely on that of Jamaica’s reggae legend Peter Tosh.
Lucky Dube was born in Ermelo on August 3, 1964. Lucky Dube was killed On October 18, 2007 in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville. He was and still is one of South Africa’s best-selling reggae artists.
Other top reggae artists from Africa are Sipho Johnson known as Jumbo, Ben Okafor, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fak Oly, Stimela among many others.
One of South African Reggae music top producer/distribution company is “Putumayo”. Putumayo World Music was established in 1975 to introduce people to the music of the world’s cultures.
One of the underrated reggae artist in this genre is Colbert Mukwevho of “Harley and Rasta Family” fame. He has produced numerous album in his vernecular language Tshivenda and English. He has paved way for most reggae artists in Limpopo where there is a huge market for reggae music. His son Percy Mukwevho known for his silky voice had just release an album which is now getting airplay from radio stations and T.V.
Recently many new artists are coming up in this genre; Black Dillinger who has done lot of perfomance in Germany. Born in Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa he is now based in Berlin, Germany Reggae’s second home outside of Jamaica. Hailing from the legendary Chronic Clan led by Zolile Matinka a.k.a. Zorro. Dillinger found his calling in life to spread a positive message through music. He embraced the faith of Rastafari in the late nineties as a teenager and has been a true ambassador ever since.
Lucky Dube’s daughter Nkulee Dube who has been making waves with her debut album “My way”, other artists include JJ Al Capone, Jah Link, Benjy Dread, El Supreme . Digi Analog, is a reggae and hip-hop producer / emcee hailing from Gugulethu. His music, which has a stream of social consciousness running through it like the Orange River, has kept him busy for the past ten years and seen him move crowds from Cape Town to Joburg to several European cities. Two tracks, “Dem Get Me Mad” and “Digitime feat. Al Capone JJ”, recorded at the studio, are testament to his musical pedigree.
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