Mhlahleni James "14" Shabalala was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n Maskandi musician who came from Bergville in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

. He was part of the

alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music: *Independent music *Alternative rock *Alternative pop *Alternative R&B *Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul *Alternative reggaeton *Alternative hip hop *Alternative dance *Alter ...

scene in South Africa. Shabalala was very popular as a result of his live performances at

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s and

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s throughout the country. He performed at the

Splashy Fen Established in 1990, Splashy Fen is South Africa's longest-running music festival, which every Easter attracts thousands of people to a farm near Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal for a unique outdoor music experience. Also present are arts and crafts s ...

festivals in the 1990s, and toured with musicians such as Joseph Shabalala and

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

Early career

"14" Shabalala was born on a farm called Mantosi in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal. According to the Durban '' Daily News'', "He had been nicknamed '14' Shabalala by his grandmother because he was apparently abandoned by his mother when he was 14 days old." Shabalala was not educated and could not read or write and only spoke

isiZulu Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, distinguished by vocabulary, pronunciatio ...

and

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

learned through conversations. By the late 1970s, Shabalala went to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in search of work. He bought his first

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

in 1981 and started singing for a living. Through his performances, he met well-known musicians such as Blondie Makhene and

Brenda Fassie Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004) was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop" or the "Madonna of The Townships." Fas ...

that advised him to go back to KwaZulu-Natal if he wanted to be a successful maskandi musician. He went back to the province and won a maskandi competition in 1989 at the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

where the price was a recording contract with 3rd Ear Music. 3rd Ear Music promoted many of Shabalala's shows and eventually introduced the musicians to Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Late career

Through his connection at 3rd Ear Music, Shabalala performed at Splashy Fen's 1990 and 1991 festivals respectively and recorded with 3rd Ear Music in 1990. Shabalala also featured on several recorded compilations. This included his dedication to

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

featured on the Mandela Peace Rally recorded at Kings Park in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

26 Durban 1990. As an opening act, Shabalala also toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with Joseph Shabalala and

in 2002. Shabalala mostly played at festivals and his music was popular among his audiences, he however could not sell his CDs or cassettes in music shops as a result of

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

pressure. He was known for his trademark whistling words personalising each song with a string of deep Zulu singing clicks and percussive whistles as well as his personal guitar with 5 nylon strings with the high E string missing. His influences ranged from American

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

, mixed into Zulu walking-pick, as well as rhythms of

highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

and Zimbabwean

chimurenga ''Chimurenga'' is a word in Shona. The Ndebele equivalent is not as widely used since most Zimbabweans speak Shona; it is ''Umvukela'', meaning "revolutionary struggle" or uprising. In specific historical terms, it also refers to the Ndebele ...

Death

Shabalala died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

at his Bergville home, following a lengthy illness. His archival material including photographs, vinyl records, letters and documents, are in the Hidden Years Music Archive, preserved at the Documentation Centre for Music,

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in 2017.

Discography

"14" Shabalala released an album through 3rd Ear Music in 1991 called ''Is' Tofu Esisha''. {{Track listing , headline = Track listing , title1 = Is' Tofu Eshisa (New Stove) , length1 = 3:57 , title2 = Ijuba (Pigeon) , length2 = 4:24 , title3 = Uphamaphi 14 (Where Do You Come From, 14?) , length3 = 5:30 , title4 = Washo Nolinowe (You Said It, Nalinowe) , length4 = 2:50 , title5 = Sizwe , length5 = 4:25 , title6 = Wemdi Ungaboyingena Eyababli (Do Not Interfere) , length6 = 4:21 , title7 = Uyamazi U- 14 (Do You Know 14) , length7 = 5:06 , title8 = Nkulunkulu Kaminayaza (God of Kaminayza) , length8 = 4:00 , title9 = Ngihmaba Ngiyafuna , length9 = 3:30 , title10 = Is' Tofu Esisha (New Stove) , length10 = 3:57

References

External links

"14" Shabalala
at Hidden Years Music Archive Project South African folk singers South African guitarists People from KwaZulu-Natal Zulu-language singers of South Africa