Mahlathini

Mahlathini
Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde, 1988
Background information
Birth name	Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde
Born	1938 Alexandra, Gauteng, R.S.A.
Died	27 July 1999(1999-07-27) (aged 61)
Genres	Mbaqanga
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1964-1999
Labels	Mavuthela Music Company, Satbel Record Company
Associated acts	Mahotella Queens, Alexandra Black Mambazo, Dark City Sisters

Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde (1938 – 27 July 1999) was a South African mbaqanga singer. Known as the "Lion of Soweto", Nkabinde is the acknowledged exponent of the deep-voiced, basso profundo "groaning" style that came to symbolize mbaqanga music in the 1960s. Nkabinde was also a very active live performer in South Africa, recording and performing with the Mahotella Queens and the backing Makgona Tsohle Band from 1964 to 1971, and then again from 1983 to 1999. The Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens act was propelled into international stardom in the wake of Paul Simon's 1986 Graceland album.

Nkabinde was born in Alexandra township, South Africa, in 1938. As a young boy, he began leading isicathamiya and mbube choirs at traditional Zulu wedding ceremonies. By the time he was a teenager, Nkabinde's voice was much admired. During the early 1950s, however, his voice became strained and was reduced to a growl. Initially, Nkabinde's rural parents thought he had been "witched", and took him to a sangoma. When the healer provided the simple explanation that Nkabinde was only "growing up", Nkabinde's parents put their minds at rest. Nkabinde himself joined the kwela group Alexandra Black Mambazo (from which the Ladysmith choir would later take its name), among the members his older brother Zeph and Aaron "Big Voice Jack" Lerole, the originator of the singing style later known as "groaning". In the later 1950s, Nkabinde joined the "black music" division of EMI, led by prolific talent scout and producer Rupert Bopape, and began recording with female artists such as the Dark City Sisters and the Flying Jazz Queens. His growling voice perfectly suited the groaning vocal style, and he soon became the leading exponent of the style. His vocal rendition was to inspire a whole generation of groaners (none of whom outlasted Nkabinde).