Strike David Vilakazi (also written Vilakezi) was a South African vocalist, drummer, trumpeter, composer, and music producer. He was known for composing the anti-apartheid song " Meadowlands", and for his career as a producer, during which he was influential in the development of ''

mbaqanga Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music that emerged in the early 1960s in the urban townships, particularly around Johannesburg. It draws from a variety of ethnic traditions, including Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, and Tsonga musical element ...

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"Meadowlands"

The settlement of

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writ ...

had been destroyed by the

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 ...

government of South Africa in 1955, and its 60,000 inhabitants forcibly moved, many of them to a settlement known as Meadowlands. The forced relocation inspired Vilakezi to write "Meadowlands". "Meadowlands" was set to an "infectious jive beat". It featured music writer Todd Matshikiza on the piano. The lyrics of the song were written in three languages;

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 ...

SeSotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

, and '' tsotsitaal'', or street slang. Superficially upbeat, the song was misinterpreted as being supportive of the move by the South African government; as a result, Vilakezi was congratulated for it by a government bureaucrat, and according to some sources, had an application for housing expedited. Originally performed by Nancy Jacobs and Her Sisters, as with many other protest songs of this period, "Meadowlands" was made popular both within and outside South Africa by

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...

, and it became an anthem of the movement against apartheid.

Production career

When he wrote "Meadowlands", Vilakezi was a "talent scout" for the music production company "Troubadour". From 1952 to 1970 he also ran the black division of the music production company True Tone Records. He was among the first musicians to affiliate with the organisation South African Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers, which sought to represent musicians in some legal matters. In 1962, its functions were largely taken over by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). In 1954, he recorded Spokes Mashiyane playing the

pennywhistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

, and would later persuade Mashiyane that the same music would sound better on a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. The music that resulted has been described as the earliest style of ''

'', a genre that would remain popular among black South Africans for many years.

Appropriation

In 1974 Bertha Egnos produced the play ''Ipi Tombi''. Vilakezi charged that she had appropriated some of his recorded music in the play's hit song "Mama Thembu's Wedding". Vilakezi's allegation was supported by an investigation by SAMRO. However, he was unable to obtain redress in court. Commentators have referred to this episode as an example of the widespread appropriation of black South African music (both traditional and contemporary, recorded music) by white artists, who then profited from them.

References

{{reflist, 24em South African musicians South African producers 20th-century drummers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century South African composers