State witness, Mpho Maruping, giving details of what led to the superstar’s brutal death, had told a Johannesburg court that Dube’s killers thought he was a Nigerian.
But ironically, eight years after that death, a Nigerian Rastafarian based in South Africa, Ben Priest, is the lead vocalist of the Lucky Dube Band, one of the legacies of the slain music maestro.
A day after Dube was killed, his web site, HYPERLINK “http://www.luckydubemusic.com” \t “_blank” www.luckydubemusic.com, said his death “leaves a great void in the music industry as 25 years of music suddenly ends in tragedy.”
It is that gap that the Lucky Dube Band is poised to fill and a Nigerian, Rastaman Ben Priest is one of the persons leading the charge, though he said Dube’s shoes are too big for anyone to step into.
Thokozani Dube, son of the late star said their collaboration with the talented Nigerian artist is a fulfillment of his father’s wish to live together as one. “Ben is our brother and we worked together as one,” the younger Dube said as the band performed in Namibia on October 18, 2015 to mark the eight anniversary of Lucky Dube’s forced exit.
The reggae singer, Ben Priest, was at Blake Excellence Resort in Abuja recently, where his scintillating performance brought back vivid memories of Lucky Dube.
The Boki, Cross River State-born singer, who migrated to South Africa in 2008, said the band was determined to sustain Dube’s legacies.
His words: “We have come out with a new album titled, ‘Celebrating his life’, a 10-track album and I am the lead singer. This unique album is a tribute offering to the late legend on his 51st birthday. The effort is to advance the legacies of Lucky Dube. In celebrating his life, we are talking about a good man, father, preacher; a prophet that really touched the lives of people with his message. He was a very philosophical person. Everybody could relate easily with his message, message of peace and unification of mankind.”
Ironically, Ben Priest did not play with Lucky Dube while he was alive.
He explains:
“I was never with Lucky Dube in flesh and blood, but after he passed on, the management of Lucky Dube band got in touch with me after listening to my songs on the Internet. I had some auditioning and they were so impressed. My performance was superb, so they signed me on in 2013. I have been with the band since 2009, but I was officially signed on in 2013. In fact, when I was in Nigeria, I did a tribute song for Lucky Dube after he was killed.
The song was all over the Internet and I think that was where the manager of the band got to hear the song and decided to invite me to South Africa. Richard Luma, the former manager of Lucky Dube, was the one that invited me to South Africa.”
The Ras Kimono look-alike told Abuja Metro that the lingering court cases over who killed Dube actually delayed his being signed on by the band.
Attraction to Dube
I was attracted to Lucky Dube from childhood. I was captivated by his passion for music with deep lyrics, with message. His music was entertaining; his music was educative and informative at the same time. Lucky Dube’s message and style attracted me to him. It takes deep thinkers to understand his message.
You see, I actually indicated interest to be with the Lucky Dube band when I got to South Africa, but there was this issue of the authorities trying to find out who killed the reggae star. So, the management of the band asked me to hold on as they were not in the mood to relate with anybody then; and I waited till 2013. While I waited, I still ran things with them but it was in 2013 that they officially signed me.
On the issue of who killed Lucky Dube, three of the culprits were eventually tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. I think justice has been done about that. For us, the season of mourning the reggae legend is over. It is now time to celebrate his life.
Future of reggae
Reggae is universally accepted, no matter what. I still believe that reggae is a very popular genre of music. There is huge fan base for reggae music everywhere in the world. Reggae is not what you hear everywhere. It is for the mature mind. It is not for the juvenile, it is for deep thinkers and we have them. When you go to Australia, Canada and USA, everywhere, you see the stadium pack full; like 100,000 fans and above in a show. That is huge followership of reggae music.
The mundane kind of music of these days cannot displace reggae. Once released, they do not last for more than six months. Reggae music never dies. Just take the songs of Bob Marley for instance. Anytime you play them, they are just fresh. It is not about the rhythm, but about the message.
Mission in Nigeria
I came to do some appearances in radio and television stations, talk about the new album, celebrating Lucky Dube and run a few things; and I am off to South Africa. By December, we will be in Australia, where we have been invited to perform in festivals. The Australian tour will be great as we expect hundreds of thousands of fans.
You see, Nigeria is one country where reggae is not popular. But when it comes to Lucky Dube, his music is much grounded in Nigeria.
We had wanted to be in Nigeria this December, but the arrangements were not concluded. However, we are very hopeful that after our tours, around Easter next year, the Lucky Dube Band would storm Nigeria.
On Majek Fashek
He is a great guy. He is a legend. I am so happy you mentioned him. Majek is a very strong person, a prophetic guy who never gives up no matter what happens. I think his problem was not basically drugs as widely believed. His case was actually a misinterpretation of what people think about him, deeper than what we think and he, even at some point, said his problem was from home; more like a spiritual thing.
But, my happiness is that Majek Fashek is bouncing back like the great guy he is. I am happy because he is my mentor. I had a brief performance with him and Oritz Wiliki in Abuja during the Nigeria ’99 Under-20 World Cup.
Lasting reggae
Reggae has come to stay. It is not what you hear everywhere. It is like jean material. You do not wear it everywhere. Jean material has been there, you can wear it casually; you can wear it on a blazer. We should embrace reggae. It is the best genre of music to convey message, be it spiritual or social. Reggae should be a vehicle for preaching against social ills in Nigeria.
Dube lives
Lucky Dube initially sang in the traditional Zulu mbaqanga style. His move to reggae in 1984 was spurred by his quest to express his anger against the oppression of apartheid. He was inspired by the controversial lyrics of Peter Tosh. Strong opposition from the then all-white South African
government met his earliest attempts with the newly adopted style; and his first reggae album, ‘Rasta Never Die’ was banned from radio airplay. Without notifying his record label, Dube re-entered the recording studio and cut a second reggae album, ‘Think About the Children’. The album became a major hit and achieved gold record status. Dube’s third reggae album, ‘Slave’ sold more than 500,000 copies. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa’s biggest-selling reggae artist.
Sun News Online
No comments:
Post a Comment