Brenda Fassie: Africa: The Madonna Of The Townships

Brenda Fassie, the bad girl of South African pop, finally gets her shot at musical (and media) stardom in America

By Desa Philadelphia Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001

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    Fassie, 36, is doing so well because while such younger kwaito acts as Arthur Mafokate create dance-party standards, her lyrics address more complex themes dealing with African culture and life. In Sum' Bulala (Do Not Kill Him/Her), she asks taxi operators in the provinces to end their violent rivalries. Fassie has also mostly abandoned English and now sings mainly in Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho. With this marriage of tradition and innovation, she and longtime producer Sello "Chicco" Twala (South Africa's Quincy Jones) are creating the best music of her career. Fassie's new approach invites further comparisons to Madonna, who recently reinvigorated her sound with hip electronica. Fassie likes Madonna but doesn't understand the comparison. "Maybe it's because of the way we dress," she says.

    Fassie's personal life remains a work in progress. By her own admission, she spent much of the early '90s in a cocaine haze, missing gigs and becoming a promoter's nightmare, until the overdose death of her lesbian lover, Poppy Sihlahla, impelled her to clean up her act. Ridiculously generous with family, friends and even friends of friends, she has been broke many times, and was once arrested for nonpayment of debts. Those experiences have colored Fassie's perception of success. "I'd rather have happiness than money," she says. "People ask for [money]. Sometimes when I don't have it. I make other people's problems my problem because they want me to; they ask me to. So sometimes I wish I didn't have the little money that I do."

    The singer tried to commit suicide three times but says she now lives to see her son Bongani, 17, become a successful musician. Fassie claims that her romantic problems boil down to this: "I'm so good and so loving that men don't believe it."

    Kwaito surfaced in New York City in July, when Central Park SummerStage, a popular music festival, featured a young, Fugee-like trio called Bongo Maffin, which has been raising its international profile in the last few months. Fassie, who is shopping around for a U.S. distribution deal, badly wants to be the vanguard of any kwaito breakthrough. Exiting John F. Kennedy Airport this summer, she was a pile of giggles, giddy with excitement about playing the U.S. Then she seemed to recall that she was already a superstar. "Brenda Fassie is in the house!" she loudly announced to no one in particular. A few African tourists who happened to be near the gate asked the Queen of Kwaito to pose for photos, and she obliged. Then, suppressing more giggles, Fassie strode out of the airport, ready to make news.

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