Reggae Mandela

In the 1980s, reggae singers began issuing songs either damning South Africa's apartheid government or praising the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Oddly, most of these songs didn't start appearing until after Coventry's The Specials scored a huge hit with ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ in 1984. (Towards the end of his brief life, Bob Marley had sung in praise of newly liberated Zimbabwe but didn't ever directly address Mandela or apartheid.) If Jamaica was late to the protest, the reggae world certainly made up for lost time – here are tunes by everyone from roots reggae stalwarts like Junior Murvin (‘Apartheid’) and The Mighty Diamonds (‘Mr Botha’) to notorious dancehall stars Beenie Man (‘Steve Biko’) and Shabba Ranks (‘Mandela Free’). From the UK are Aswad (‘Set Them Free’) and UB40 (‘Sing Our Song’) while Africa is represented by Alpha Blondy (‘Apartheid is Nazism’).

Some songs are tainted by history: Carlene Davis' ‘Winnie Mandela’ now rings hollow considering the late Winnie's murderous behaviour. But as a historic document this does a fine job at showing how reggae musicians from across the globe helped focus opposition to what was then a very brutal, racist regime. It also has plenty of fine tunes. A pity New Zealand's Herbs were left off – they sang anti-apartheid reggae songs in the late 70s!