Dorothy Masuka was a South African jazz singer and activist from Zimbabwe. I chose to share a song of hers because in her life she advocated for so much and did everything she could to help people. Especially during the time she was growing up, she made huge strides for women in general. Dorothy Masuka was born on September 3rd, 1935, and came from a humble upbringing, when she was 12 years old she was enrolled at St Thomas Convent School in Johannesburg due to her asthma. A talent scout spotted her quite fast and by the end of her teen years, she had recorded nearly 30 singles. It was in the 1950s that her career really took off, however even though she was the second-highest selling musician in South Africa she was never given a contract, wage, or royalties for her work. The most she was given was a dress or “spending money” as she put it. A huge political conflict that really affected Dorothy Masuka’s life and her work was the Apartheid, this was the segregation of white people and black people in South and Southwest Africa. The apartheid also forced black South Africans to carry tons of documents with them. In response to this injustice, Masuka wrote the song “Dr. Malan”. This song was a big deal because it was the first South African song by any artist, let alone a woman, to call out an apartheid minister by name. Masuka was exiled from South Africa for 31 years because of this. During her exile, she never stopped writing music and helping the anti-apartheid efforts however she could.

Since Dorothy Masuka was a jazz singer her music is very different than what we have listened to in class. I chose to share the song “Hamba Nontsokolo” which is a jazz song from the ’50s. It has a very Western sound to it, personally, I think it has a very stereotypical ‘5os sound to it. I was quite interested that there was South African music with this sound, it really shows how music expands across the world. For instrumentation, you can hear what sounds to be an acoustic guitar, some sort of bass, if you listen closely you can faintly hear what sounds like a drum set, and Masuka’s voice along with a group of men. As far as vocals go they are singing the chorus together in harmonies and then during the verses the male voices give background vocals as Masuka sings the leading part. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZayivmedU&list=OLAK5uy_koeTxh6HoMg6xMxJcys0WYTsI8BEzXHMs&index=1