LUCKY DUBE: MUSIC THAT MATTERS

People from every walk of life in Grenada were represented in the crowd that came to see world famous South African performer Lucky Dube live at Moonlight City on Sunday. Lucky Dube’s performance in Grenada was part of a world tour to launch his new album, “Respect” which features music every bit as magical as his previous albums. The inspiring music captured the audience as they swayed, sang and danced along with Dube and his incredibly talented performance troupe.
There is something special about a performer like Dube that goes far beyond a good album or a well attended concert. It is the same kind of special that has been found in other musical legends who have been able to create music that spans generations and cultures across the globe. Performers like John Lennon, Bob Marley and Dube have something in common: Their music tends to be about things that matter. When music matters it can shape the world, such as John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier”, raising the consciousness of people all over the world.
Music that is inspired inspires others; and thus is capable of touching the souls of people across the globe. For Dube, the source of that inspiration likely stems from the life experience of someone who has lifted himself out of poverty and made his dreams come true, as shared in one of the tracks of his new album titled, Touch Your Dream. For Dube, anything is possible if you hold onto your dreams, and his own life story entitles him to preach to others through is music.
He is man whose faith guides him. ‘I only worship the All Mighty, through his prophets I have learned to give respect to everything he created” and although a world famous Rastafarian, he is a man who does not drink, smoke, or consume marijuana. In fact, the societal problems the world faces today are an obvious source of musical passion and a vehicle for Dube to express things he cares about. Dube wants, “To be living in a world where there are no homeless people, to be living in a world where little children don’t have to die because their parents are poor”. While many of his social commentaries are about poverty, domestic abuse, HIV/AIDS, or love; his eyes are also on the landscape of world power. ‘We’re living in a world with a lot of crazy people, we’re living in a world with psychopaths - every one of them wants to rule the world”.
There is an abundance of music on the world market that glamorizes gangsters, drugs, violence, crime and depressive thought, but when an artist like Lucky Dube rises like a phoenix on stage, we are reminded that the universal truths that really bring people from multiple continents, cultures and age groups together; is the good in all of us, not the bad.