#AllThingsMUSIC: Dorothy Masuka

Spent all day thinking about a time when the only voice a Black person had was through the instrument in his hand. And naturally, of the Artists of that time. This is when then image of Dorothy Masuka crept into my thinking. If you're South African you'll know who this is. You'll know about the African Jazz elements that resonate in this lovely Woman's Music. You'll get to hear what Upbeat Blues sounds like, and what it can do to your Heart strings. Sophiatown. Man, what a time. Ask them. Ask Jason King, ask Hugh Masekela, Fifi Tladi or any of the unknown rockers. Sopiatown was the pinnacle of South African Art forms and reflected in every single Art lover of that Age. What a time. Songs such as 'hamba nontsokolo' [Go away trouble] or 'suka lapha' [Get away from here] are merely a glimpse of the political nature of Music in that time. Dorothy was one of the many Artists whose Music was eventually banned in South Africa because of their Political literature, and she was sent into exile to return an icon. What a Woman. What an Artist. What a time. So if, one day, you ponder about Music Legends that have graced our Hearts, remember this time. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dorothy Masuka.

Dorothy Masuka is a jazz singer who was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1935, then called Southern Rhodesia. She was the fourth of seven children and her mother was Zulu while her father was a Zambian hotel chef. Still, she attended a Catholic school deemed good by the standards of education allowed blacks. Her family moved to South Africa when she was twelve due to her health. By the time she was nineteen she was touring in South Africa with singers she had admired as a girl.

Masuka's music was popular in South Africa throughout the 1950s, but when her songs became more serious, the government began questioning her. Her song "Dr. Malan," mentioning difficult laws, was banned and in 1961 she sang a song for Patrice Lumumba which led to her exile. This exile lasted thirty-one years in total. Many of her songs are in the Ndebele language or Sindebele languages.

In August 2011, Dorothy Masuka and Mfundi Vundla, creator of the popular South African soap opera Generations, confirmed plans to make a film of Masuka's life. The film would concentrate on the years 1952 to 1957.