Lucky Dube
South Africa’s great reggae internationalist. After starting in maskandi, Lucky Dube turned reggae toward apartheid, family, migration and social life, becoming a continental star without pretending to be Jamaican.
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Lucky Dube began recording in South African maskandi before changing course in the mid-1980s. “Rastas Never Die” in 1985 announced the reggae direction, “Think About the Children” followed in 1986, and “Slave” in 1987 pushed him into major success across southern Africa and beyond. His music used reggae’s bass, guitar and message tradition to speak from South African conditions: apartheid, alcoholism, family, inequality and human dignity. Over the following two decades he became one of Africa’s most internationally successful reggae artists. His 2007 killing ended the career, but the records remain a central route into how reggae was made local on the continent.
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Took rootDube shifted from maskandi into reggae while keeping South African social subjects at the center.
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Last checked 1 September 2026