The King of Zulu blues moves slowly in the frenetic jol of 20 000 music lovers at the Oppikoppie festival. There are six stages, acts from all over the world and three jam-packed days of music and dust. The living musical legend coughs. Madala Kunene now 60 plus seems oblivious to the fur, feathers and stilted performers that surround him.
Then he pauses as the sweet sounds of Hugh Masekela’s trumpet float from one of the main stages. Kunene listens to his contemporary, smiles, rubs his aging hands on his jeans and turns his attention to his own music:
“Me, I play Madala Line,” he says with conviction and a smile. “When I play some say it’s maskandi, others say it’s world music or African music, they can say what they like.”
Combining blues and soul with African folk, Kunene has developed a unique style. Armed with a six-string guitar and a mouth harp, he blurs the lines between jazz, funk, maskandi and East Coast Blues. With hypnotic vocals he picks and strums his way into a deep meditative state while performing.
With over 40 years in the industry Kunene has eight albums under his belt. The first was recorded with bass guitarist, Sipho Gumede and vocalist Jabu Khanyile in 1988. The album has since slipped off the radar, presumably lost in the wilderness of the 80s. His next six albums were recorded in Europe, including his first solo album titled Kon Ko Man (1996). In 2006 he recorded Madamax with Swiss guitarist Max Lasser. His latest album, 1959, is the first he has recorded at home in more than 26 years.
A New Album
According to Marius Botha, Owner of The Headroom Studio in Durban, the twelve-track album took a year to record:
“We thought it would just be him and his guitar, the way he performs. Soon after people started appearing out of the woodwork. It was an outpouring of love for Madala”.
More than 20 artists including, Steve Newman, Guy Buttery, Sazi Dlamini and Hugh Masekela collaborated with Kunene on the album.
A young woman runs by, phone pressed to her ear as she shouts into the receiver, kicking up a cloud of orange farm dust with her takkies. Madala shushes her, creasing his brow while mumbling about “these children with these phone things and TV things”. While his music is at the forefront of the preservation of Zulu folk music, he remains sceptical about the ability of musicians to preserve the diversity of South African culture through the arts.
Kunene was born in Durban, in 1951. His family was forcibly removed from Cato Manor to the northern township of KwaMashu. He shifts in his seat as he recalls his childhood:

Some say it’s Maskandi, others say it’s world music or African music, they can say what they like.
“My Ou Ballie was a blues guitarist and I wanted to be like that so I made my first [guitar] with tin and three strings,” he says. With his makeshift instrument Kunene began busking on the Durban beachfront at the age of seven, much preferring music to books. He would often be found “playing in the river with the other boys,” instead of being at school, despite numerous and painful backside repercussions.
Imitating the Beatles
As a teenager Kunene bought his first acoustic guitar and began imitating the big international artists of the sixties, including the Beatles. He says they taught him a lot about the basics of music but provided little room for the self-expression for which he yearned. On the road to his true identity, he cut his teeth playing in the townships of Durban, performing imported western hits ”people wanted to hear”. They were paid very little.
“A R1 here, a R2 there, or just a plate of food,” he says. Black artists of the time faced added pressure of the security police, who often raided social gatherings in the townships. They harassed musicians and destroyed instruments they had bought with hard-earned money. Today he’s not in the mood to relive those moments.
“Forget about Apartheid, it’s not the time to think about [it]. If you always think about Apartheid you can’t move forward, you can’t concentrate on your work because you’re always hating everyone… like white people,” he says frowning.
But despite being reluctant to relive the past in the interview, his latest album, 1959, is based on the pain of the forced removals he and his family faced that year. Kunene hopes that it will serve as a reminder to his nine children, the youngest just three, of the hardships faced under the Apartheid regime and the brutal implementation of racial segregation.
Despite his years in the industry, financial struggle is an ongoing theme in his life. He wants to play more gigs at home but his bread and butter comes from entertaining audiences overseas. He rants about the lack of support from the government’s Department of Arts and Culture, especially with regard to the basics like medical aid. He insists that aspiring artists are deterred from entering the industry for fear of being destitute.

Madala Kunene at the Oppiekoppie Festival.
Spirituality Keeps Him Afloat
But money problems and the physical impairments of age aside, his deeply spiritual music keeps him afloat.
“I’ve never been to school, what could I do? To dig down there with a pick?” He asks pointing to the dirt, ”I’m too old for that. I can sell fruit for money, maybe”.
Three young men arrive and begin to set up a tripod and camera. They signal to him. “But I think the door is going to be opening. It’s going to be okay, “he says with a bit of a practised smile. The deep lines on his forehead soften as he straightens his waistcoat and, rising with effort, extends a worn but strong hand to his next interviewer.
This article first appeared in Africa is a Country. Words and pictures by Leila Dee Dougan.
The website’s community guidelines promote respectful and fair interactions among users.
The ability to share ads on social media platforms is a great way to increase visibility.
Надеюсь, что эти комментарии добавят ещё больше положительных настроений к информационной статье!
Автор представляет информацию в увлекательном и легко усваиваемом формате.
Информационная статья представляет данные и факты, сопровождаемые объективным анализом.
Вместо этого, вы можете указать произвольный адрес электронной почты., и отправитель будет указан как “CandyMail.org”.
Thx
The information in this article is presented in a manner that is accessible to a wide audience.
Надеюсь, эти дополнительные комментарии покажут вашу положительную оценку информационной статьи!
Статья содержит обновленную информацию и факты, подтвержденные надежными источниками.
Автор предлагает логические выводы на основе представленных фактов и аргументов.
Автор предоставляет достаточно контекста и фактов, чтобы читатель мог сформировать собственное мнение.
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful read!!
I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it. I have you book-marked to look
at new things you post…
I have been browsing online more than 2 hours today, yet I
never found any interesting article like yours.
It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web
owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be
a lot more useful than ever before.
What i don’t realize is if truth be told how you are not really a lot more neatly-preferred than you may be now.
You’re so intelligent. You already know therefore considerably in terms of this matter, made me personally believe it from a
lot of numerous angles. Its like women and men don’t seem to be interested except
it’s something to accomplish with Girl gaga!
Your own stuffs outstanding. Always handle it up!
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you
may be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your
blog and definitely will come back in the future. I want to encourage you continue your great job,
have a nice holiday weekend!
Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and
set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
excellent put up, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don’t understand this.
You should proceed your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base
already!
of course like your web site but you need to take a look at the spelling
on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I
find it very bothersome to inform the truth on the other hand
I’ll certainly come back again.
Unquestionably believe that which you stated.
Your favorite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest thing to
be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think
about worries that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the
top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect
, people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more.
Thanks
naturally like your web site however you need to check the
spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife
with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to tell the
truth on the other hand I will certainly come again again.
Great post.
I’m really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog visitors have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?
Надеюс
Автор предлагает читателю дополнительные ресурсы для глубокого погружения в тему.
Автор старается представить материал нейтрально, что способствует обоснованному рассмотрению темы.
whoah this blog is magnificent i love studying your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of persons are searching round for this information, you can help them greatly.
Я просто не могу не поделиться своим восхищением этой статьей! Она является источником ценных знаний, представленных с таким ясным и простым языком. Спасибо автору за его умение сделать сложные вещи доступными!
Статья содержит информацию, которая помогла мне расширить свои знания по данной теме.
What’s up to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting
more from this web site, and your views are good for new people.