It’s 10am on a frosty winter morning when the legendary Lebo M appears on camera with his second cup of coffee in hand, flashing a welcoming smile that instantly puts me at ease. It is, after all, the one and only Lebo M. Nerves are inevitable.
“I keep hearing people mention this 60-year milestone, I don’t know what they’re on about,” he jokes when asked about turning a year older.
“On a serious note though, I don’t think I’ve ever had the time to pause and reflect, but upon reaching the big 6-0, I felt an immediate sense of gratitude and humility thinking about my journey,” he said.
This journey began at the age of 13 in the dusty streets of Soweto’s Tladi, coming from an extremely poor family background. Now his name has become synonymous with words such as cultural ambassador, the Lion King and overall being able to propel African music to the forefront of the global stage.
Earlier on in his life, during a time of heavy apartheid laws and seemingly a bleak future, Lebo M’s role models at the time were undoubtedly his mother – as the present caregiver and also a certain neighbour who seemed to have his life together. Nothing Lebo M was accustomed to.
“My father was more on the negative side, a violent alcoholic, so he was never in the running to be a role model. But this particular neighbour always had sharp clothes, sharp cars, and his house was one of those glorified among the people. That immediately placed the question of ‘who do I want to become between my own father and the father next door’,” he said.
The beginning of his hustler spirit, which was both innate and ignited by the next-door sharp guy, was first exercised with him selling peanuts and other snacks on the street before graduating to becoming the youngest nightclub singer at The Pelican in Orlando West, Soweto.
“When music/the arts caught up with me, I didn’t know that would be my ticket out of poverty. I just remember enjoying this thing so much that I kept on doing it. When you are born into poverty, and you are limited to that environment, you are not aware that you are living a life that is not okay for any human being.
“But as soon as I joined The Pelican, seeing the adults around me, these sophisticated richer guys drew me to wanting to be like them.”
His singing journey led him to Lesotho until he found his way to America, the land of opportunity, but that began a lengthy phase laced with hardship.
“For an average person, especially in the 70s, going to America felt like going to heaven until the first few hours of landing there. It felt like landing straight into a horror movie, the opposite of heaven, but going home was never an option. It was in that moment that my survival and hustler instincts kicked in. To make matters worse, I did not leave South Africa with any money in my pocket nor an ID or anything. It was just me.
“So there were many years before the success that were undocumented that were very difficult days for me, living on the streets of America. But I had surrendered to the reality of what was happening in that moment and I was equally driven a whole lot more by what I wanted to achieve.”
Lebo M, real name Lebohang Morake, shares that once you have learned to survive from nothing, it becomes a natural part of your DNA. A hustler.
“All I knew, with every hustle I took on, was that I don’t want to go hungry again. Coming from Soweto, born before 1976 – by that old system I was not supposed to even get past the age 20-years. And now that I was there, in a foreign land with only a dream in mind, I knew I needed to make it work out” he said.
The Lion King, for the global star, became a personal project to him not only as his way of making his mark but also as a vehicle that enabled him to open more doors for other South Africans when he was afforded the opportunity to bring it to Mzansi.
“It now became a passion more than it was about making money. And although we can never shy away from the fact that we played a huge rule in exporting our culture and our artists around the world, seeing more South Africans thrive globally became a personal mission of mine.
Beyond The Lion King, Lebo M has produced and composed for numerous projects, including film scores, stage productions, and his own albums.
“I am humbled and grateful that over above the ones that came before me, those that I was privileged to also work with like Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Caiphus Semenya, Letta Mbulu; I learnt that I have a different responsibility than just being a star in America. My responsibility was to find my authentic self in order to elevate my work on foreign land. With that, I was able to bring hundreds of young unknown people and spread them around the world. They have also been able to change their family stories tremendously. A win for us all,” he said.
Reflecting at how far he has come also includes pausing to appreciate all the work he has been a part of, “just marveling that wow we did that. I think I am starting to appreciate celebrating myself, having personal reflections and showing gratitude,” he said.
But even at 60, the global creative still has plans in store.
“Life starts at 60 and what that means is that I have built the foundation and planted seeds for 60 years. Now the next 30 years is my chance to have what I have planted earlier germinate and come into fruition.
“I am excited by this phase of my life, I am a challenge oriented guy, let’s go. I truly feel like everything I achieved in the last 60 years was preparing for this phase to realise in totality what I was born for.
“And when all is said and done, I want my legacy to be described as someone who remained true to their authenticity, to who I am as an African in my craft,” he said.