Guest post today by Benn loxo listener, Michael, in memory of the late Lebo Mathosa:

The second time I became aware of Lebo Mathosa was when I saw her picture in a New York Times article about the launch of MTV Africa. The picture showed the blond-maned Mathosa being carried on stage by a bunch of burly men in black suits. The image fascinated me and I Googled her name only to discover I had bought one of her records during a visit to South Africa in 1999.

Back then, she was part of the Kwaito group Boom Shaka where she shared the lead vocals with Thembi Seete. I’ll admit it was the cover with two cute blond-wigged singers that basically sold me on the CD, but when I got it home I was even more impressed with their sound – which to my ears sound like a more organic version of house music.

Mathosa went solo in 2000 and released a handful solo albums among the aptly-titled “Drama Queen.” In South Africa, Mathosa was widely regarded as the natural-heir to the late-Brenda Fassie, who died of an apparent overdose in 2004. So when I learned that Mathosa had died on Oct. 23 at age 29, I wondered what could have killed her. AIDS? Drugs? No, the car she was riding in overturned and hit a tree, the kind of stupid thing that could happen to anybody.

I’m including Gcwala from the Boom Shaka CD to honor her memory.

Boom Shaka – Gcwala (Halo remix)