Letta Mbulu is a renowned South African singer now in her 70s. As a child, she was part of the musical King Kong and learned about being a professional artist. In the 1960s, she moved to the United States where she performed and met influential artists like Miles Davis and Celia Cruz. Her career gained momentum when she collaborated with American artists and was featured on soundtracks for movies like Roots and The Color Purple. Later, she recalled meeting Michael Jackson and discussed challenges around perceptions of African art and the need for more support of arts education in South Africa.

1. DECEMBER 2015 / JANUARY 2016 FORBESWOMANAFRICA | 8988 | FORBESWOMANAFRICA DECEMBER 2015 / JANUARY 2016
ENTERTAINERS
There’s
Nostalgia
In The AirOne of South Africa’s
most revered singers,
septuagenarian
Letta Mbulu recalls
her interactions with
Miles Davis, Michael
Jackson and the music
of her motherland.
WORDS THANDO MATUTU
L
etta Mbulu sings with soul,
the soul of Africa.
Born in Soweto where
people turned to music and
dance to escape the dark
days of apartheid in South Africa, her
early influences were the songs of hope,
joy and determination echoing through
the snaking alleys of her township.
As a child, in 1959, she became
a part of King Kong, the acclaimed
South African jazz-influenced musical,
which opened in Johannesburg at the
University of the Witwatersrand.
“I learned at a young age what it
takes to be a professional artiste and
what it takes to develop ideas into a
performance,” says Mbulu when we
meet her in her Johannesburg home.
South African singing legend
Miriam Makeba and jazz musician
Thandi Klaasen were part of the cast of
King Kong and her mentors throughout
the production. While still in her early
20s, her musician-boyfriend and now
husband, the hugely-talented Caiphus
Semenya, invited her to join him in the
United States (US).
Reluctant to travel far from home,
she arrived in a cold and snowy Amer-
ica, welcomed by Semenya, Makeba
and South African trumpeter Hugh
Masekela, living in exile in the US.
“I kept searching for the New York
with all the glitz and glamor but I
experienced a New York which was
very depressing, it was snowing, very
cold and I asked ‘when are we getting
to New York’?” says Mbulu.
She had left behind a South African
summer with family, friends and
festivities, and was now confronted by
a cold New York. She had to get over it.
“I went to see Ms Makeba [for her
performance], Bill Cosby opened for
her and I was blown away, which
inspired me to perform and we went to
the Village Gate to watch Celia Cruz.”
Cruz was her inspiration to perform
in her native language, at the famed
Village Gate.
“Miles Davis came to give me a com-
pliment after the performance where
he asked me if I had taken coke, which
I misheard as Colgate; he said things
which offended me at the time, but I
realized later they were compliments,”
says Mbulu now.
Mbulu’s career gathered momentum
when John Levy became her manager,
and she collaborated with American
artistes such as David Axelrod and
Cannonball Adderley. Her association
with Quincy Jones led to opportunities
in featuring in popular soundtracks.
Jones was producer for A&M
Records when Mbulu was recording
There’s Music In The Air. It was on a
trip to West Africa that she received a
request from Jones for her song to be
included in the movie Roots.
“Roots was a movie about black
American history, when I did that song
[Oluwa: Many Rains Ago], it came deep
from another place, it was wonderful,”
she says.
The success of Roots brought more
recognition for Mbulu as she followed
up with soundtracks for The Colour
Purple and A Warm December.
While on a world tour for a per-
formance with Harry Belafonte, actor
Sydney Poitier was in the audience.
After the show, he asked her to perform
one of her songs Bahleli Bonke eTilon-
gweni for A Warm December.
“The song was about apartheid
political prisoners, this theme didn’t fit
in with a club scene as depicted in the
movie,” says Mbulu.
The club scene was a sequence
created to allow Poitier’s character to
connect with his African love interest.
Despite her dissatisfaction with the
lack of sensitivity to the subject matter
of the song, Mbulu appreciated the
opportunity and exposure. Later,
Micheal Jackson considered Mbulu
for his song Liberian Girl which had a
similar theme as A Warm December.
Mbulu recalls being intrigued by the
King of Pop.
“Michael had a very tiny voice, was
extremely shy; his first words were,
‘Are you from Africa, yes you don’t look
African’. I asked him how Africans
look,” says Mbulu.
The Western perception of Africa
has been a topic of debate for decades
and is an issue Mbulu feels can only be
changed by Africans.
“African artistry becomes limited to
build bridges between melodies which
take music to the next level, it’s import-
ant to go to school to free yourself as an
artiste,” she says.
She emphasizes the importance of
education to develop talent.
“In South Africa, we learn classical
music that’s great, however it limits us
in terms of African instruments which
have notes which can’t be written in our
contemporary musical education.”
Mbulu laments the disinterest of
the government in innovating arts and
culture education, and aligning it with
the economy.
“When we talk to our leaders, they
hear it, but can’t see it. They say people
are already dancing so what’s the point,
not seeing that it could be sustaining.”
Mbulu and Semenya returned to South
Africa in 1991 after being in exile for over
two decades. She continues to produce
music, is working on an album and says
she couldn’t have asked for more.
“I have a good husband, grandkids
that I adore; my life is good, I thank my
creator, my ancestors and my people,”
she humbly submits, as she awaits a
warm December in South Africa. FW
“WHEN I DID THAT SONG [OLUWA: MANY
RAINS AGO], IT CAME DEEP FROM ANOTHER
PLACE, IT WAS WONDERFUL.”
PHOTOBYMOTLABANAMONNAKGOTLA