SOUTH AFRICA: Queen of urban Zulu music Victoria Busi Mhlongo enjoying her comeback after her career was stagnated by drug abuse.

Record ID: 847478

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Queen of urban Zulu music Victoria Busi Mhlongo enjoying her comeback after her career was stagnated by drug abuse.
  • Date: 6th November 2003
  • Summary: MCU (English) MUSICIAN, VICTORIA BUSI MHLONGO SAYING: "I was two months out of the clinic then Bra Hugh took me to the studio and then of course South Africa is just going to celebrate ten years of freedom, we are still young in this freedom thing, so for me its all celebration."
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KWAZULU NATAL, JOHANNESBURG, DURBAN
  • City:
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Crime,Entertainment,General,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAA96OMCDQOUAAX1BQE8ODLUXG3
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: South Africa's queen of urban Zulu music, Victoria Busi Mhlongo - is making a comeback after her career was stagnated by drug abuse.
    Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa five decades ago, a baby girl was born here who would one day become her country's musical volcano.
    Victoria Busi Mhlongo is the reigning queen of urban Zulu music. She's famous for fusing the maskanda songs of the mine workers, with traditional Zulu and Xhosa songs -- bringing a feminine touch to music that is traditionally male.
    But exile and fame have taken their toll on the star: Busi is recovering from years of drug addiction.
    "As an African, I never thought that marijuana was a drug you know, but I took this tree and I depended on it, you know and it came to a part where I was truly abusing it. Especially after my mama's death, I did nothing but just smoke and cried until I called Bra Hugh again Bra Hugh for help because I couldn't control myself now," she says.
    Jazz maestro Hugh Masekela -- who Busi fondly refers to as Bra Hugh -- is also recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Masekela decided to help other South African addicts get clean by giving them guidance and support.
    "Usually it's a person who has been there and done it who can intervene because when you mirror your life against the person that you are trying to help's life, they can see that there is something common in between you but you have beaten it. You know so it might inspire them to try the same, you know," he explains.
    South Africa's few rehabilitation centres have long waiting lists -- and can't cope with the increasing number of addicts, most of whom are teenagers. Among the adult patients, many are singers or artists by profession.
    Rehabilitation Consultant Ane Carelson: "In the entertainment world, musicians especially are always exposed, there's a lot of social functions and I think sometimes they also are exposed more to the world of drugs as well. And we have found that a lot of them get into trouble and we have had quite a few of them going through our program and I'm proud to say, it is doing very well."
    Busi has come a long way since she sang for a Portuguese army band thirty years ago. She's scooped various awards and was top of the world charts for two weeks with her previous album, "Urban Zulu."
    Recently, she celebrated her first year of being drug-free with the launch of her new album --'Freedom.' Released by Hugh Masekela's Chissa records, the twelve-track album is a tribute to her renewed life and to her motherland.
    "I was two months out of the clinic then Bra Hugh took me to the studio and then of course South Africa is just going to celebrate ten years of freedom, we are still young in this freedom thing, so for me its all celebration," Busi says.
    "Busi is one of the artists that I have always admired very much and when I worked with her oversees especially in France in 1995 with a whole South African ensemble and recently at Carnegie Hall, she just kills the audience.
    She is very confident of her talent and I think that we just scratched the surface with this album," Hugh Masekela says.
    Busi is now a grandmother of two and shares her gift with the next generation by holding youth workshops in Zulu singing and dance.
    Now, she can't wait to present her new album to the world. For her, it's a departure from a voice that she says was angry and shouting. Her new songs are brimming with melody and lust for life.
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