Africahit - Interview with Hugh Masekela

What is your advice to young African jazz musicians?

I am not really about jazz. I am about developing all African talent whether it's rural, traditional or spiritual. All African talent that has to do with art has to be promoted and elevated. The bar has to be raised to the point where we have a major impact on the international arenas where other structures from the West are the monopolies.

Can you define your mbaqanga strains style? And how have you managed to play all the bases?

I was influenced by the people I grew up around, the relatives who collected music records and the musicians. I don't categorise what I play. I play African music that is influenced by whatever I have been exposed to. But basically I don't fall in any category. Most musicians don't categorise themselves. I think these categories are media or marketing devices.

Why did you leave USA after making your mark on the international scene in the early 1970s?

The US was not my home. I was in exile and when my country was accessible it was natural for me to go back because I was one of those people who were very passionate about the freedom of my country. And I detested the fact that I was being prevented from leaving.

Why did you whole heartedly support the Graceland tour? Do you ever regret doing so?

I have no regrets in life. The Graceland tour projected not only the South African music better than it had ever been projected but it was also a very radical show. It played to 10 million people who mostly had never heard of South Africa before. It was a great catalyst in raising the conscious of the world about what was happening in South Africa at the time and influenced the international music scene.

By the time Graceland caught the imagination of the world there wasn't an artiste in the world who was putting a word or two on his or her CD about South Africa. But the most ironic paradox about Graceland is that the people who led the onslaught against the concert were the same people who, when President Nelson Mandela invited Paul Simon to South Africa, were pushing us all out of the way and escorting Simon to Mandela's place. Which shows you just how human beings can be.

When did you return home? And how did it feel like?

I returned home in 1990. I had been away for 30 years. And the contribution I thought I could make to initiate and improve the quality of our lives educationally, recreationally and in entertainment had gotten lost for 30 years. There was a lot of damage that was done in South Africa like in any other African country. I am 68 years old now, so I have to work very hard to accelerate the pace of making sure that those structures come into a reality. It's a tough battle because we are battling an old established western presence and monopoly that is going to take ages to break.

How far did the apartheid movement influence your life?

I don't think the anti-apartheid movement influenced my life at all. I think all South Africans were influenced by apartheid itself. We were influenced by the previous wars that were fought for centuries against colonialism. We grew up in a nation that was determined to eventually see victory over its oppressors and this started in the 17th century. So by the 20th century we had been fighting for three centuries. I knew that we might not deliver victory in my lifetime but my grandchildren would be free. So all South Africans basically grew up with that mentality. Of course there are those who were collaborators with the oppressors and they were also affected by apartheid in a negative way.

Do you think your music contributed to the demise of apartheid?

I don't consider it to be my music. I think we don't bring anything to the world, I found it here and learnt from the heritage and culture around which I grew and many other things like the music records, radio and television. And coming from a nation that was oppressed and growing up singing protest songs, South Africa is just beginning to sing love songs, not that we didn't fall in love or have the time. We were obsessed with being free.

Because we were obsessed with being free it's natural that in everything we did the content was to a great extent against oppression. But I wasn't the only one. There were millions of people singing songs against apartheid. There is no gathering in South Africa that does not begin and end with music. So it's part of us, it's our literature.

Was it worth resisting apartheid? Do you see any shortcomings in the rainbow nation? And what solutions do you propose?

If we did not fight apartheid, we would still be in chains. I think it's incumbent upon all humanity to fight injustice anywhere in the world. I think the 'rainbow nation' and 'miracle nation' are like media slogans that are in denial of dealing with the realities. The South African apartheid government was a very criminal structure.

South Africa being a rich country with disparities between the privileged and the oppressed there was bound to be theft and crime. Because the apartheid government was so criminal that the crime that was bobbling underneath wasn't visible. As soon as the apartheid government was removed and the criminality of South Africa came to the fore, it appeared as if it was something that came when we were freed, but it had always been there.

South Africa was a country where if you did not steal you would not have any respect in your community because you were stealing from the establishment that was oppressing you.

Another thing power comes with amnesia. Amnesia is the process of forgetting where you came from. There are very few countries where after freedom, the freedom fighters kept the promises to the people. What is sad is that the people who worked so hard to free us they are not recipients of a peaceful life. We knew that economically we did not control the economy of South Africa so it will take us a very long time. I don't see that we can ever dream of getting to be at per with the privileged classes from the apartheid regime. Certainly we can improve certain elements of our lives and several of them have been improved but not to an extent that they should be.