- M'du Masilela
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Mduduzi Masilela Birth name Mduduzi Masilela Also known as M'Du / The Godfather Origin Zola South Genres Kwaito, Dance, D'Gong, Traditional Occupations Record Composer, Arranger, Singer, Philanthropist, Keyboardist Instruments Keyboard, Bass, Percussion, Drums Years active 1980s - present Labels M'DU/Wolla/CCP Associated acts Mashamplani, MaWillies, Kabelo, Spikiri, Brown Dash, Mzekezeke, S'bu, MaG-Mbos Website N/A M'du Masilela aka 'The Godfather', aka ' Chomi Yabana' is a living legend in the music industry in South Africa. He is popularly known for the Kwaito music genre. Born in Zola South in 1970, M'du began his music aspirations on his grandmother's piano. As a young man in school, M'du created several groups. On completion of his matric studies he began performing with artists such as Pat Shange, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Sello 'Chicco' Twala. M'du and his long time pal and collaborator, Mandla 'Spikiri' Mofokeng formed MM Deluxe in 1988 to showcase their talents by mixing township folk music with international dance music. Their first project was the album Where were you? released in 1989 on Cool Spot Productions. M'du had his debut album released in 1990, titled LA Beat with assistance from producer and engineer, Peter Snyman which went on to sell 25,000 units.
Contents
Production talents
M'du briefly worked for CSR Records as a producer and engineer for Chicco, Dr Victor and Bayethe. In 1994, M'du created M'du Productions, which up to this date is a formidable force in the production of Kwaito music in South Africa. He went to form a group known as Mashamplani with countless hits such as 'Kumnandi' and 'Bokoloshe' and has produced for the late MaWillies. He has collaborated with PJ Powers, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Vicky Sampson for a music video flighted at the United Nations' Assembly in Washington, D.C.. and Greece. In 1998 he recorded a remix of Days Like This by Kenny Lattimore a popular American R&B Singer. Recently he has been working with Mzekezeke, Kabelo Mabalane, Brown Dash. Apart from his group efforts and production commitments, M'du in his own right is a kwaito star and his Cd's are guaranteed to be certified Platinum (selling more than 50 000 records), whenever he releases a record. He relaunched his record label M'du Records through a joint venture with EMI South Africa, the first album to be released was Ya Rocka taking it back to the kwaito flavour. There is a pumping, bass-heavy remix that M'du composed for Skizo and Thebe called Tshasa,which is one of the best kwaito remixes ever from the Skizo album Limited Edition. In between his busy schedule he flies to Belgium, France, London producing musical scores for BBC and Sky News.
Personal life
A quiet family man, M'du likes to keep his family life private. He has been married for 19 years to his high school sweetheart, Sarah Masilela who also runs a Management Company working alongside her husband. Together they have 3 children Dineo, Lebo and Andile.
M'du Productions
M'du Masilela's production company represents both the accomplishments of M'du himself and the progress of the new generation of South African musicians with regard to exploitative production companies. Indeed, African musical sensations have not always been in control of their franchises. According to an article from the 1998 edition of the Saturday Star called 'From 60's stars to 90's Beggars', the 40s, 50s and even 60s were rife with "systematically exploited black performers."[1] In response to this victimization, the new generation of South African artists plan to be proactive and avoid the mistakes of their predecessors. With an independent attitude, these performers have approached the more global companies quite skeptically, in an attempt to avoid at least one middleman in the music industry chain. Despite the fact that distribution will continue to be accessible to global companies like Sony, Masilela's decision to become a producer himself signifies "a growing black economic empowerment within the music industry."[2] Equally as important is the fact that in recruiting and producing his own talent, M'du creates a very localized form of Kwaito music that can be identified with the South African township culture. In an interview with Aryan Kaganof, M'du asserts, "I wanted to do what I feel"[3] about his decision to become an independent producer. Later, he adds, "I don't think that the township culture will die out. It's still here in the suburbs, to us it's still the same. We've got a whole lot of black people living around here and to us it's our country in South Africa", which indicates that he identifies Kwaito music, his role as a key player in its production and the township culture all with one another. By producing for himself, M'du reasserts his South African identity in the context of global media companies.
Charitable efforts
M'du set up Chomi Ya Bana Foundation to help disadvantaged youths with their education.
FanBase
In an effort to keep his flame burning a fan site dedicated to M'du has been set up on Facebook [1] for all to come join in and contribute to how their lives have been affected by his music. The popularity of this fanpage is evident in the number of fans present. As an independent fanpage it has been able to capture his true fans and is still growing. It is anticipated that Mr Masilela will find the time to endorse the page and contribute to it.
Discography
Albums Performed
Year Title Label 1989 Where were you? Cool Spot Productions 1990 LA Beat CSR 1996 Ipompe Epic 1996 Shwabana Ghost Mixes Epic/Sony S.A. 1997 Always Da Case M'DU 1998 M'Du or Die EPIC S.A. 1998 Let M'du Jam - the other side unknown 1999 24 Seven M'Du/Epic S.A. 2000 No Pas No Special Epic/Sony S.A. 2001 The Godfather Epic/Sony S.A. 2002 The Godfather's party Gallo 2003 The Godfather Chissa Gallo 2004 Ya Rocka M'DU/CCP/EMI 2005 C-Simple M'DU/CCP/EMI 2008 Believe It Or Not CCP Albums produced and/or arranged for/with other artists
Year Title Artist 1995 Hey Kop Mashamplani 1997 Intwenjani MaWillies 1997 Nothing But The Jam Dennis Mpale Ma We Rainbow Squads Ma Kap Kap Lost 'n' Found Mashamplani 1998 Neva Neva Mashamplani 1999 4 Ever Mashamplani 2000 Angeke Mashamplani 2000 Ema Skeem Ntwenjani MaWillies 2004 Back 2 Square 1 Mashamplani E-Styla Sami MaG-Mbo's Mthandazo Wabolova Brown Dash 2006 Dashboard Brown Dash 2007 Wanted: Kunjalo Kunjalo Mashamplani 2 External links
- ^ Dyantyi, Aurelia. "From 60's Stars to 90's Beggar's." Saturday Star. 3 January 1998.
- ^ Coetzer. "Kwaito Shakes the Nation." in Magubane, Zine. "Globalization and Gangster Rap: Hip Hop in the Post-Apartheid City." In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 225. London; Ann Arbor, Michigan: Pluto Press
- ^ Kaganof, Aryan. "The Kwaito Story: M'du Masilela Interviewed by Aryan Kaganof" Kagablog. 6 October 2006. Wordpress. 28 February 2008.
Categories:- Kwaito artists
- South African people
- Living people
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