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Vusi Mahlasela
was born in Lady Selbourne,
Pretoria in 1965 and grew up in
Mamelodi, a township famed as a
cradle of culture which has
produced many of Black South
Africa’’s greatest musicians and
writers.
Vusi can’t remember a time when
he wasn’t singing as a child
"I’m sure I learned to sing
before I could talk" he says.
Listening-in his grandmother’s
shebeen-to men singing
‘ingomabusuku' or ‘songs of the
night' the young Vusi began to
teach himself to play his
home-made guitar, a remarkable
instrument made of tin cans and
fishing line.
Formal guitar lessons began when
he entered high school, where he
set about putting together a
vocal group of his own. His
teachers marvelled at his
amazing vocal range which
enabled him to continue singing
soprano parts in school
productions well into his teens.
By the age of seventeen, Vusi
was a seasoned performer. He had
soon tired of singing cover
versions of popular songs and
discovered that he had a flair
for composition and begun to
write his own music and lyrics.
He found himself drawn to themes
with social and political
significance and he became much
in demand at political rallies
and cultural events. This drew
him into close contact with
poetry groups, which led to him
joining the ‘Ancestors of
Africa' This group of poets,
musicians and actors, formed in
1981, stirred up some turbulence
among the current police force,
who harassed its members.
“We were picked up and harassed
in all types of situations,
going to church every Sunday and
being forced to sign a piece of
paper at the police station
first. If I was going out of
town for a wedding, it had to be
reported to the police first.
They kept on harassing me with
the things I was doing. But I
stuck to it", says Vusi.
It was after joining the
Congress of South African
Writers in 1988, that Vusi
developed a new level of
confidence as a poet and a
writer. He came into contact
with other artists and poets who
were to influence him greatly.
He struck up a creative
friendship with South African
poet Lesego Rampolokeng at the
same time he fell under the jazz
and traditional music spell of
artists like Miriam Makeba and
Phillip Tabane. He was exposed
to the work of Victor Jara, whom
Vusi acknowledges as having had
perhaps the strongest influence
on his music and lyrics. Vusi
Mahlasela’s introduction to the
international scene came in 1990
when he played at the Zabalaza
Festival in London.
‘When You Come Back' Vusi’s -
debut album - which he dedicated
to all those who had sacrificed
thier lives to the solitude and
suffering of political exile,
was recorded and released by
Shifty/BMG in 1992 and produced
by Lloyd Ross. It has gone on to
win many local and international
fans for this humble songbird
and is still rightfully
considered a South African
classic and continues to amaze
music lovers the world over.
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On the 10th of May 1994 in
Pretoria, Vusi was on stage with
his fellow musicians for the
most important gig of his life,
to celebrate the inauguration of
South Africa’s new president,
Nelson Mandela. During this
year, with South Africa
undergoing massive transition,
Vusi released his second album
‘Wisdom of Forgiveness'
(Shifty/BMG), dedicated to the
respect of all humanity with
music to fight crimes and
injustices in this Era of Hope.
For this album Vusi teamed up
again with Lloyd Ross, working
and writing closely with Lesego
Rampolokeng and Zimbabwean
guitar maestro Louis Mhlanga.
Critically acclaimed, the album
saw Vusi receive a finalist
nomination for Best Male
Vocalist at the FNB SAMA Awards.
After world-wide touring and
international acclaim, Americans
first caught a glimpse of Vusi
in the lauded documentary film
Amandla! A Revolution in
Four-Part Harmony, and the
accompanying soundtrack. After
the release of the film,
long-time admirer and fellow
South African, Dave Matthews,
signed Vusi to his own ATO
Records label and released The
Voice (2003)¸ a collection of
the best songs from Vusi’s
catalog. In 2007, ATO released
his latest album, Guiding Star,
his first full-length release in
the States. ATO Records will
release the highly anticipated
follow-up record to Guiding Star
on January 18, 2011. The new
album, Say Africa, produced by
Taj Mahal and recorded at Dave
Matthews’ studio in
Charlottesville, VA, captures
Vusi’s hope for the future of
Africa: ‘Let all those who share
in Mandela’s greatest wish—to
one day see an Africa that is at
peace with herself—SAY AFRICA.’
After recording the album in the
States this spring, Vusi
returned to his home in South
Africa and was honored to help
ring in the World Cup at FIFA’s
Kick Off Concert at Orlando
Stadium. The concert was
broadcast internationally to an
estimated one billion viewers.
Following his performance, Vusi
proudly introduced fellow South
African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
on stage. Vusi’s anthemic song
‘When You Come Back’ was ITV’s
official theme song for the
World Cup in the UK. Other
recent highlights include
performing at Mandela Day to
honor Mandela’s birthday,
touring with Bela Fleck behind
the release of his
Grammy-winning album ‘Throw Down
Your Heart,’ which features a
live track from Vusi and Bela,
two appearances at the TED
conference and performing with
Paul Simon.
In the midst of a busy
international touring schedule,
Vusi remains dedicated to his
social activism and partnerships
with non-profits, including his
own Vusi Mahlasela Music
Development Foundation,
committed to the promotion of
and preservation of African
music. Other organizations that
Vusi actively supports are
OXFAM, The Acumen Fund, The
African Leadership Academy and
the ONE campaign.
Over a musically and socially
consequential career, South
African singer-songwriter and
poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela has
successfully followed his muse
and continued to give back to
his country. As he puts it, he
knows that ‘musicians have to be
like watchdogs, just by seeing
and speaking out, directly to
the youth as well, because we
need some kind of Cultural
Revolution to remove ignorance.”
Listen To Vusi Mahlasela's Music
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