Lucky Dube

Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced doo-bay)^[1] (August 3, 1964 — October 18, 2007) was a South African reggae musician. His mother named him Lucky because he was born in poor health, yet survived. He recorded 21 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25 year period^[2] and was South Africa's biggest selling reggae artist.^[3] Dube was murdered, in front of his children,^[3] by several hijackers in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville on the evening of 18 October 2007.^[4][2]

Biography

Early Life

Luck Dube was born in Ermelo, then in the Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga. His parents separated before his birth and he was raised by his mother, Sarah. Along with his two siblings, Thandi and Patrick, Dube spent much of his childhood with his grandmother, while his mother relocated to work. As with many African families during the Apartheid era, Dube grew up in poverty.^[5]

As a child Dube worked as a gardener but, 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.^[5] While at school he discovered the Rastafari movement, however he abstained from drinking alcohol, or smoking cigarettes or marijuana; a practice he continued through the rest of his life.^[1]

Beginning of his musical career

At the age of 18 Dube joined his cousin's band, The Love Brothers, playing traditional Zulu music known as mbaqanga. The band signed with Tear Records, which became Gallo Record Company. 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. Around this time he also began to learn English.^[5]

[edit] Moving into reggae

On the release of his fifth Mbaqanga 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 concerts. Moreover, he felt the socio-political messages associated with Jamaican reggae were relevant to a South African audience.

He decided to try the new musical genre and, in 1984, released the mini album Rastas Never Die. The record sold poorly - around 4000 units - in comparison to the 30000 units his mbaqanga records would sell. However, not discouraged he continued to perform the reggae tracks live and wrote and produced a second reggae album. Think About The Children (1985) reached platinum status and established Dube as a popular reggae artist in South Africa, in addition to attracting attention outside his homeland.^[5]

Commercial and critical success

Dube continued to release commercially successful albums. In 1989 he won four OKTV AwardsPrisoner, won another for Captured Live the following year and yet another two for House Of Exile the year after.^[6] In 1995 he earned a worldwide recording contract with Motown. His album Trinity was the first release on Tabu Records after Motown's acquisition of the label.^[6] for

In 1996 he released a compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, which led to him being named the "Best Selling African Recording Artist" at the World Music Awards and the "International Artist Of The Year" at the Ghana Music Awards. His next three albums each won South African Music Awards.^[6]

Death

On October 18, 2007, Lucky Dube was killed in the the Rosettenville suburb of Johannesburg. Police reports suggest he was shot dead by hijackers.^[2][4][3]

Discography

Mbaqanga Albums

• Lengane Ngeyethu (1981)
• Kudala Ngikuncenga (1982)
• Kukuwe (1983)
• Abathakathi (1984)
• Ngikwethembe Na? (1985)
• Umadakeni (1987)

Afrikaans Albums

• Help My Krap (1986)

Reggae Albums

• Rastas Never Die (1984)
• Think About The Children (1985)
• Slave (1987)
• Together As One (1988)
• Prisoner (1989)
• Captured Live (1990)
• House of Exile (1991)
• Victims (1993)
• Trinity (1995)
• Serious Reggae Business (1996)
• Taxman (1997)
• The Way It Is (1999)
• The Rough Guide To Lucky Dube (compilation) (2001)
• Soul Taker (2001)
• The Other Side (2003)
• Respect (2006)