musik from the heart

South African Virtuoso
Makes ‘Music from the
Heart’
South African musician Ringo
Madlingozi confronts issues
affecting his homeland in his
new music.
Darren Taylor | Johannesburg, South Africa
“In South Africa, every conceivable
situation – be it birth, death,
whatever – demands music,” says
Ringo Madlingozi, his face fixed
upon the multicolored screen of a
computer that holds his latest
songs. As he speaks, a new
recording plays in the background.
He nods his head appreciatively, in
sync with the beat.
Inside his dark studio in a house in
a Johannesburg suburb, Madlingozi
– an outstanding vocalist, multi-
instrumentalist and session
musician – is hard at work on his
new album. “It’s called Umbiyozo,
which means ‘celebration.’ This is
my album celebrating the highs
and the lows of modern-day South
Africa,” he says.
Madlingozi has performed with
international superstars like Eric
Clapton, UB40, Simply Red and
Teddy Pendergrass. He’s made
music for the worldwide smash hit
Hollywood movie, The Lion King.
He produced several albums for
the deceased South African singer
the legendary Miriam Makeba.
However, Madlingozi remains one
of the unsung heroes of South
Africa’s music scene.
Africa’s best
In contrast with many of his
contemporaries, he’s not brash and
boastful. Even at awards
functions, the well-built man often
fades into the background,
wearing understated clothes and
talking quietly in corners with
friends. He never seems to
appear in South Africa’s
newspapers and gossip magazines.
Madlingozi laughs, “I wouldn’t say
I am an angel, but I don’t think I
do much in the way of bling and
bad behavior to deserve
appearing on a back page!”
Yet the accolades that this
musician’s accumulated are
numerous. Since winning the Shell
Road to Fame talent competition
with his first band, Peto, in 1986,
Madlingozi’s won several South
African Music Awards and Kora All
African Music Awards, for, among
other things, Best Male Vocalist in
Africa.
His albums have gone double
platinum in South Africa, selling
over 200,000 copies. He’s
performed all over the world,
thrilling audiences at leading global
music events such as the New
Orleans Jazz Festival.
Madlingozi describes his sound as a
“mixture of many genres and
rhythms,” including rock ‘n roll,
jazz, reggae, mbaqanga and
maskandi music.
“Mbaqanga and maskandi are the
traditional, indigenous South
African sounds. With mbaqanga,
it’s all about layers of riffs,” he
explains. But essentially,
Madlingozi adds, he makes African
music, the “main elements” of
which are “drum, bass and voice.”
Ringo from The Beatles….
On his albums, Madlingozi sings
and plays most instruments
himself. He’s proficient in guitar,
piano, flute and many other
instruments. He’s constantly
expanding his repertoire. At the
moment, he’s teaching himself to
play saxophone.
But it’s to the drums that he owes
his establishment in South Africa’s
music industry, as well as his stage
name. Madlingozi explains, “I used
to drum when I was young. In
fact, I used to bash out rhythms
on anything I could get my hands
on; that’s what my mother tells
me. And when I was a kid, The
Beatles were real big. So people
started calling me ‘Ringo’ after
Beatles’ drummer, Ringo Starr.”
But to this day, Madlingozi hasn’t
had “even one second” of formal
musical training. “I make music
using my ears and heart, through
passion and perseverance.
Through experience I have
learned that if I do something
over and over again, it becomes
part of me,” he says. “I am
entirely self-taught.”
He’s convinced the roots of this
desire that drives him presently
are to be found in his past.
“Because there weren’t many
opportunities for black musicians
during apartheid, I was forced to
teach myself and to work much
harder to progress – which in the
end has proved to be a good
thing!”
Mistakes become sonic success.
Madlingozi prides himself on his
powers of improvisation, insisting
that he often turns his musical
mistakes into sonic successes.
“Some of the mistakes are
beautiful stuff!” he exclaims.
He bemoans the fact that some
record producers “want everything
polished and perfect. They tell me,
‘No, Ringo, that note – it’s false.’
Then I tell them, ‘No, it’s meant to
be there. It sounds good! Leave it
in!’”
Madlingozi attributes his success to
“enjoyment. Every single aspect
of music that I learn, I enjoy –
even the difficult and tedious
parts.”
Over the years, he’s honed his live
performances to the point where
South African music critics have
described them as one of the best
ever seen in his home country.
“I always want to do better. But
the main thing is – I love being on
stage,” he says. “I am my own
competition. I always put myself
in the audience and ask myself,
‘Would I want to see this guy do
this and do that?’”
Madlingozi adds, “Sometimes when
I’m performing I pick up that I’ve
lost some people. Then
immediately I strive to connect
back with those guys. In so doing,
I become more and more dynamic
and then the people usually go
crazy, man!”
Fighting modern-day evils
Ever since his public debut more
than 20 years ago, Madlingozi’s
garnered a reputation as a
“serious” musician. He says it has
a lot to do with his background.
Born in 1964, he grew up in Cape
Town’s Gugulethu township, which
in the past was a key
battleground between apartheid
security forces and militant black
youths. As a young man,
Madlingozi witnessed intense
violence. Desperate for an escape
route, he retreated into music.
“Music was my sanctuary…. My
savior, my guide…. I became
myself when I was within my
music. I became protected, within
my music,” he says. “I could say
what I liked, how I liked, through
my music. I felt I had a voice,
through the songs that I made
then,” he says.
In present-day South Africa,
Madlingozi’s voice remains
relevant. “I write about the
different people of South Africa
accepting one another. I write
about the injustices one person
forces on others,” he says.
Madlingozi maintains that “just
because South Africa is now
controlled by a black party (the
African National Congress), it
doesn’t mean everything’s cool”
here at the moment.
He explains, “Today in South
Africa, oppression takes many
forms; it’s not just racial oppression
happening. There are people of all
races now in South Africa who just
want to put money into their
pockets and the poor be damned!”
Madlingozi says he’ll “make music
against these evil forces” until
they’re vanquished.
“It can take 10 years; it can take
15, 20, but who cares? We will get
all those who are not doing the
right things, and sing about them,
and make noise! Beautiful things,
bad things, everything that is
happening – people should know
what’s happening.”
On his latest album, Jayiva Sbali
(Dance, Brothers), a song called
Siyabhiyoza (We Are Marching),
urges South Africans to protest
against modern-day injustices in
their country. Madlingozi raises his
voice against corrupt politicians,
crime syndicates and men who
abuse women.
“I can’t be ignorant of these
things,” he says. “It’s my duty as
an artist to reflect life as it is now
in South Africa. And unfortunately,
that life isn’t always so nice….”
Then, twiddling some knobs on a
mixing board, he smiles and says,
“But I hope my music is.”