WOMAD

Vusi Mahlasela

From South Africa

“Why world music?” asks Vusi Mahlasela, clearly agitated by that catch-all musical definition. “Why give music a label like that when music is music? I sing FOLK music.” He’s got a point. With just an acoustic guitar for company, this South African singer-songwriter’s words and tunes cut across artificial genre lines and through man-made borders. These are songs of simplicity and humanity with messages that resonate the world over. Both Sinead O’Connor and Paul Weller have expressed their admiration for this 40-year-old Pretorian, while Vusi’s compatriot, the novelist Nadine Gordimer, concisely described him as “a national treasure”. Indeed, he’s so much loved back home that he can count a performance at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in 1994 among his career highlights. He’s very much a man of his times. While much South African music during the dark years of white rule was angry and defiant, post-apartheid times have called for something softer. Vusi’s songs of hope, tolerance and forgiveness fit the bill perfectly.Catch this if you like… SE Rogie or Lokua Kanza.