Charl Blignaut investigates the fives rules for how to become a South African pop icon. (Don’t be scared to perform from the back of a truck)
In 1985, six months after Lucky Dube’s fourth mbaqanga album had turned to gold – sales in excess of 25 000 units – the recording studio was again booked for the young music star.
For two fervent days, he and producer Richard Siluma set about laying down the tracks for Dube’s fifth traditional Zulu album. Well, that’s what their record company thought they were doing. What they were doing was recording Rastas Never Die, Dube’s first reggae album.
When the record bosses listened to the new material they were not pleased. Had their best-selling mbaqanga artist lost his marbles? Here was a nice young man, still in high school, who was apparently happy to throw away a promising career. When Rastas Never Die notched up only 4 000 sales they thought Dube would come to his senses.
Wrong. Dube knew there was a reason that audiences went wild for his reggae tunes, so he dug his heels in, and he and Siluma took reggae to the people.
When, a year later, Think about the Children – his second reggae album – had settled into the marketplace, Dube was heading for double platinum (100 000 units). In 1988 Rastas Never Die was duly re-released and several record bosses were made to eat their gold discs.
Today Dube’s combined domestic reggae sales of more than two million units have made him South Africa’s biggest- selling recording star. And that’s not to mention the close-on two million units he has sold internationally.
The tale of how the 20-year old Dube forged ahead with a brand-new music style and cornered the local market is one that throws up striking parallels with virtually all his peers, who are South Africa’s biggest contemporary artists.
They include Dube, Soul Brothers, Brenda Fassie, Rebecca Malope, Bles Bridges, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Splash, Thomas Chauke, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Arthur, Ikhansela No JBC, M’Du, Spokes H, Leon Schuster, Pure Magic, Mango Groove, Amadodana Ase Wesile, Jurie Els, Mzwakhe Mbuli, Boom Shaka, Odadawethu, Olaoy Izazi, Bayete, Mahlatini and the Mahotella Queens and Patricia Lewis.
A parallel between Lucky Dube and Patricia Lewis? Pah! But wait a minute, there are several – and they characterise exactly what it is that creates a South African pop icon.
First, you gotta work, baby. Both Dube and Lewis tour vociferously, as do most of the above, taking their music to the people, selling from the boot of the car. Or, like Boom Shaka, performing from the back of a truck. Or, for that matter, like Fassie, who knew she had a sure thing with Weekend Special, so she piled some crates on top of one another outside a Soweto shebeen and lip-synched her way to gold.
Secondly, most of the big platinum sellers have managed to secure a unique niche in the market. Rebecca, currently the strongest seller in the country with two triple platinum albums since April 1997, is gospel. But she’s also a little pop. Lucky is the new global sound of reggae, Arthur and M’Du helped pioneer kwaito or d’gong, Leon Schuster became synonymous with braaivleis and rugby.
The third feat is something of a double trick: don’t be afraid to change your image, but stick with your market. Dube went from mbaqanga to reggae; Lewis from English sex kitten to a swingin” Afrikaans girl; Malope from bubblegum to gospel; Chaka Chaka from bubblegum to Afropop. In each case they found their niche and stuck with it.
There is, of course, a handful of traditional artists on the list who consistently churn out an album every nine months and go gold. That’s opposed to one-hit wonders like Mango Groove, who make the list almost entirely on the strength of their 320 000-selling second album.
Fourth rule to becoming a pop phenomenon is to be able to cross over within your market. Apartheid audience development, radio playlists and the bureaucracy of the big record companies have produced a segmented market. Dube, though, plays reggae, which appeals to all races and all ages. Lewis has become the biggest- selling female Afrikaans recording artist in history – selling 110 000 copies of her first album overnight, her second doing 70 000 within two months – largely because she appeals to all ages. She is also something of a delicacy in the black marketplace, thanks to her career as a compre and TV presenter.
Those five factors – combined with a sound that is not in direct competition with an international artist, staying power, a star writing team, a good record company and consistent quality recordings – have produced our megastars.
In an industry that reportedly generates some R4-billion annually, it’s amazing that there is no comprehensive list of all-time sales. Our list is post- computer and is based on ballpark figures. It also fails to paint a picture of popularity now. A top 10 list like that would read more like: Malope, Spokes H, Arthur, M’Du, Pure Magic, Leon Schuster, Ma Willies, Lewis, Amadodana, Odadawethu. Kwaito has rocketed into the stratosphere as the new pop, with gospel and traditional the mainstays. And Afrikaners remain plesierig, supporting their stars.
Of course, when piracy has been brought into check and black spending power is brought closer to white (cold fact: in the last year Rebecca has sold 450 000 units in South Africa on two albums while Celine Dion has sold 500 000 units in South Africa on one album), the list could look very different. But the top five will remain the top five. The only difference might be that in 20 years’ time, Rebecca should be on top.