Victor Khojane, better known as Dr Victor or Dr Vic, is a pop and
R&B musician, who was born in
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
, South Africa.
Dr Victor: biography
Accessed 9 June 2013
Career
Khojane began playing when he was a student, in a band called CC Beat, mainly influenced by afropop
African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...
stars such as Blondie and Papa, Harare Mambo Band and Jonathan Butler
Jonathan Kenneth Butler (born 10 October 1961) is a South African singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.
Biography
Born and raised in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa, during apa ...
, as well as some Afro-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
acts (mainly the Jackson Five
The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Tito ...
). In 1984, CC Beat began playing nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s in 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 ...
; at the time, they managed to sign with label CCP Records
CCP Records (originally an acronym for Clive Calder Production) is a South African music entertainment company founded by Clive Calder and Ralph Simon. It is a production company. They envisioned the company while working for EMI South Africa i ...
(an affiliate of EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
), but the contract was later dismissed. Another label, Dephon Records, put them under contract shortly thereafter. CC Beat changed their name to 'Taxi' and did sessions for Lucky Dube
Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced ''duu-beh'';
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
and other bands.
In 1991 the band changed label again, signing for independent label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...
CSR. They recorded their first album, an Eddy Grant
Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
entitled ''The Rasta Rebels''. This work was highly successful, to the point that they decided to change the name of the band to Rasta Rebels. At about the same time, Khojane adopted the pseudonym Dr Victor.
Dr Victor then recorded a few solo albums, such as ''Badayo'', ''Hello Afrika'', and ''One Goal, One Wish''. All these works were quite successful in South Africa, and Dr Victor was invited to open for international stars such as Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
, Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...
and Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
. In 1997, Dr Victor's album ''Faya'' was his first work to get international attention, selling well in France, Mexico, Japan and the Middle East.
At the end of the 1990s, Dr Victor reunited the Rasta Rebels, and a collection, ''The Best of the Rasta Rebels'' with one unreleased track, "I Love to Truck", was released. Both the collection and the new song, published as a single, sold well. In the following years, Dr Victor has alternated solo productions (such as ''Sunshine Daze'' in 2003 and ''If You Wanna Be Happy'' in 2004) and Rasta Rebels albums (''When Somebody Loves You Back'', 2006).
Discography
* ''The Rasta Rebels'' (1991)
* ''Badayo''
* ''Hello Afrika''
* ''Faya'' (1997)
* ''The Best of the Rasta Rebels'' (raccolta)
* ''Stress'' (2000)
* ''Sunshine Daze'' (2003)
* ''If You Wanna Be Happy'' (2004)
* ''When Somebody Loves You Back'' (2006), Electromode
References
Dr Vic and the Rasta Rebels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor, Dr
South African musicians
Living people
People from Kimberley, Northern Cape
Year of birth missing (living people)