Mahlathini

For luxury hotels, South Africa holds treasures for world travelers. With exquisite beaches that are some of the world’s finest (and least populated), an enticingly vibrant urban cultural scene in some of the largest of the country’s cities, and a rich and enormously complicated history, South Africa is a constant feast for the senses. These rich fabrics are the tapestries against which some of the world’s finest artists develop their craft. One of South Africa’s artistic treasures is Mahlathini.

Born Simon Nkabinde, he earned the nickname “Mahlathini” (the name means “jungle on his head”)because of his aloofness, his royal self-presentation, and his link to traditional culture, as evidenced by his amazingly deep vocals, that sound like the middle of the jungle. His vocals are what first captures the attention of the listener, and it is a style that young people have tried to imitate through attempting to make their own voices rougher and deeper. His musical tradition is called mbaqanga. Mbaqanga grew out of earlier South African musical traditions: kwela (a riff on U.S. swing jazz with pennywhistles used instead of horns), marabi (African ragtime, more or less), gospel choral music, and township sax jive. Mpaqanga really came into the limelight when the group The Makhona Tsohle Band, who played electric township pop, teamed up with Mahlathini as their frontman. To this was added the Mahotella Queens, whose distinctive bouncing dance style brought them admiration and delight from audiences all over South Africa.

They would play to packed stadiums all over the country, and brought more imitators and successors to the next wave of mpanga Afro-pop. The group took 8 years off to raise families, and re-grouped after Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” brought renewed international interest to South African music. With the world watching. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens began another intense touring schedule, which continued for many years until Mahlathini’s death from diabetic complications at the age of 61. Despite international success and fame, Mahlathini died a pauper.

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Mahlathini

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