ARTHUR UNITES AFRICA
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AFTER successfully staging an antixenophobia music concert at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Jozi a week ago, king of kwaito Arthur Mafokate has a new quest to unite Africa one fan at a time.
He has just recorded an antixenophobia song titled Unity with several legends and young talent, and is planning a major concert on May 30 featuring well known West and East African artists as well as local musicians to celebrate Africa Day which falls on May 25.
The xenophobia issue takes us back to the black-on-black political violence leading up to the 1994 elections. We cannot progress materially and psychologically as a people if we expend our energy trying to eliminate each other,” said Mafokate.
He said composing and producing the Unity track was like a flashback to the 1990s when he released a song titled Yehlisani Umoya that was aimed at calming tempers during the political killings at the time.
It is now 2015 and that song is still relevant today because of the issues it addresses pertaining to violence among Africans,” Mafokate said.
The new single features legends like Babsy Mlangeni and Blondie Makhene and a mixture of youth, including Thiwe, Chomee, Ishmael, Mzambiya, Pale, Putuma, Tendai, Zanengoma, Tina, Teekay, Beyond Vocal, Busi and Press.
It was humbling to see the throngs of people who came to the Newtown concert, which coincided with a march that started in Hillbrow. South Africans are generally very welcoming people, so we should not surrender our destiny to a few rotten apples. They say if you lie down with dogs, you will come up with fleas. We need to take back our communities and rekindle the warmth that made our townships and villages special, said Mafokate.
I don t need to be as wealthy as Bono or Bob Geldof to give back to society. Philanthropy in its true sense is the inclination to increase the wellbeing of humankind.”
Is that why he formed the South African Artist Development Association, we asked.
The Arthur back in the 1990s just wanted to burn the dance floor and be top dog, now the most important thing in my mind is to help change the current trend of artists dying as paupers due to a lack of knowledge about the music industry, he said. + % $ " % & ' $ % & ' % ( ) $ ' & & * & ( $ )
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