Life Lessons from Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu

This episode of the podcast is a conversation with Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu, legendary musicians and lifelong friends.

"Johnny Clegg, (born June 7, 1953, Bacup, near Rochdale, England—died July 16, 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African musician, popularly called the “White Zulu,” whose innovative, ethnically integrated musical collaborations in the late 20th century constituted a powerful statement against apartheid, the enforced separation of Black and white peoples and traditions in South Africa.

Clegg subsequently developed a friendship with Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker and street musician in Johannesburg. From Mchunu, Clegg learned the Zulu language and traditional music, as well as the vibrant dance styles that later became a regular feature of his performances. Clegg and Mchunu performed as a duo for a few years before they assembled a band called Juluka (Zulu: “Sweat”). In 1979 Juluka released Universal Men, an album that spoke to the divided lives of the migrant workers who reside and work in the city, separated from their families and homes. Stylistically, the album was a fusion of Zulu music and various European traditions. Later albums were similarly blended. Ubuhle Bemvelo (1982), the group’s third album, was performed entirely in Zulu.

During the early 1980s Juluka gained not only a strong local audience but also an enthusiastic international following, particularly in France, where Clegg fondly was labeled “Le Zoulou Blanc” (“The White Zulu”). Juluka’s success was an especially significant achievement during the apartheid era, when music that was performed by mixed (Black and white) bands or that blended Black and white styles was barred from South African radio. Juluka’s music, then, circulated primarily through live performances, which, particularly in South Africa, often led to encounters with the police. The group’s appeal indeed lay as much in its innovative and engaging music as in the political statement—both explicit and implicit—it made against apartheid, a system that was increasingly condemned by the international community." Britannica

*Johnny Clegg passed away in 2019

Host: Nongcebo Vukile McKenzie
Studio: United Rhythms Studios
Technical Editor: Sibusiso 'Dust' Nkosi 

The Podcast:
Camera: Mluleki Dlamini & Siyabonga Meyiwa
Sound: Sibusiso 'Dust' Nkosi
Editing: Mluleki Dlamini
Co-ordinator: Phumelele Khambule
Host: Nongcebo Vukile McKenzie

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