Search - Mzwakhe Mbuli :: Change Is Pain

This is the authentic voice of the people's poet Mzwakhe Mbuli -- a performance artist and activist from South Africa. This recording was banned in South Africa soon after its release. Mzwakhe was detained and jailed. Mzwakhe's experiment here in reciting his poems to music, though reminiscent of Linton Kwesi Johnson and the Last Poets, owes nothing to either and is starkly original -- an anguished, frustrated, defiant yet compassionate expression of a talented soul, struggling to help South Africa find its way free from racist domination. As a bonus, the Rounder release includes a live recording of Mzwakhe reciting before a trade union rally to a wildly appreciative crowd.