Vusi Mahlasela

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Vusi Mahlasela, 2008
Vusi Mahlasela, 2008
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
When You Come Back 2010
  UK 70 07/10/2010 (1 week)

Vusi Sidney Mahlasela ka Zwane (* 1965 in Lady Selborne , Pretoria ), known as Vusi Mahlasela , is a South African singer, musician and composer of popular music.

Life

Vusi Mahlasela never met his father; Since his mother Modiegi Anna Mahlasela also died early, he grew up with his grandparents in the South African township settlement of Vlakfontein (today: Mamelodi ), where he still lives today. There he quickly came into contact with African music and poetry: “I learned to sing before I could even speak!” He tinkered his first guitar out of an oil can and strung it with strings made of fishing line.

At the age of seventeen he already had his first appearances and began to write and compose his own songs. Later he was significantly influenced by the music of Philip Thabane and Miriam Makeba and the poetry of Lesego Rampolokeng . In 1991 he released his first album When You Come Back , which was immediately enthusiastically received in South Africa. He writes his own songs, sings and plays acoustic guitar and percussion .

Politically active against the apartheid regime since early youth , he was invited in 1994 to appear at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela . In the same year he released his second album The Wisdom of Forgiveness , which already shows his support for Mandela's reconciliation policy in the programmatic title. His third album, Silang Mabela (1997), received two awards from the South African Musicians' Association . In 2002 he played and sang four songs in the South African musical film Amandla! A revolution in four-part harmony .

His music is catchy, non-aggressive, but never shallow, and uses typical African rhythms and harmonics with jazzy echoes. In his soft songs he addresses social problems in his country and advocates reconciliation. Nadine Gordimer called it a "national treasure".

In the meantime (2008) Vusi Mahlasela has released eight albums and toured the USA, Canada and Great Britain. His last cross-sectional album, Vusi Mahlasela: The Voice (2003), was distributed internationally, but was taken out of distribution in Germany due to lack of demand and is only available via Internet mail order companies.

Mahlasela was personally won over by Nelson Mandela as an ambassador for his 46664 anti-AIDS campaign, for which he advertises and collects donations in his concerts and on his website. In 2013 Mahlasela was awarded the South African Order of Ikhamanga in bronze.

Quote

If you are bitter you are like a dry leaf that you can just squash and you can get blown away by the wind. There is much more wisdom in forgiveness.

“When you are bitter, you are like a dry leaf that can be crushed and the wind blows you away. There is much more wisdom in forgiveness. "

Discography

  • When You Come Back (1991)
  • The Wisdom of Forgiveness (1994)
  • Silang Mabele (1997)
  • Miyela Africa (2000)
  • Jungle of Questions (2002)
  • Vusi Mahlasela: The Voice scrapbook (2003)
  • Amandla! Original Soundtrack - 4 Songs (2003)
  • Naledi Ya Tsela (2006)
  • Guiding Star (2007)
  • Say Africa (2011)

Movies

  • Amandla! (2002) (as a musician)
  • Tsotsi (2005) (as a composer of film music)

swell

  1. ↑ Chart sources: UK
  2. ↑ List of recipients of the medals 2013  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 20, 2014@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sahistory.org.za  

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mahlasela, Vusi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mahlasela ka Zwane, Vusi Sidney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African singer, musician, composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Lady Selbourne near Pretoria , South Africa