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" I couldn't get away from the gramophone. It was the only thing that I ever really liked, and I was singing along by the time I was five years old - to the Modernaires and Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. "

Hugh Masekela

Singing

King

Holiday

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" In my view, Africa's real problems are cultural. "

" I'm travelling more than ever. I don't have the answer as to why, but the demand seems to have grown as I've got older. "

Hugh Masekela

Older

Got

" Whatever you go into, you have to go in there to be the best. There's no formulas. It's all about passion and honesty and hard work. It might look glamorous, but it takes a lot of hard work. The blessing with the arts is that you can do it forever. "

" I don't think what I do is influenced by suffering. I come from a talented people who are prolific in music and dance. "

" I grew up with protests, marches, demonstrations, struggle. But I come from a clan of community workers. "

Hugh Masekela

Community

Come

" To tell you the truth, man, we spend most of the time travelling in hotels, in festivals, in concert halls, clubs, airports. The most unenjoyable part is all the security at airports. "

" When I left South Africa there were 10 million people - when I came back there were more than 40 million. I had to learn how to get to the highways because when I left where there were no highways. "

" I've always stood on one fact - that all over the world, there are only two things, the Establishment and the poor people. The poor people are a massive majority and across the world they are exploited in different kinds of ways. The Establishment depends on exploiting raw materials and the poor. "

" I'm not a Christian. My participation in music is so full blast, 24 hours a day. And that's my religion. I think I'm as spiritual as the pope, because I spend as much time in my spirituality as he does. "

" One of the greatest things that could really happen to Africa is for us to get rid of the borders and for the leadership not to think that the countries belong to them... We didn't create the borders to start with. "

" Mandela was chosen as a symbol of the South African struggle, and he did that great. But I wasn't just happy for him. I was happy for the people. "

Hugh Masekela

Great

Happy

" I live a very enjoyable life. I understand what moderation is. "

" Just because Nelson has been released doesn't mean the government has done us any favors. We have nothing to be grateful for. The government destroyed our country, destroyed our people. If anybody needs amnesty, it is the government. "

" If I don't make heritage visible and the strength of mother tongue important for my grandchildren, it scares me that they might say in 20 years from now, 'Well, it is rumoured that we used to be Africans long ago.' And in many urban areas, it's already happening. "

" I just came from South Africa, a place that had been in a perpetual uprising since 1653, so the uprising had become a way of life in our culture and we grew up with rallies and strikes and marches and boycotts. "

" Once in a while, I treat myself to a cheesecake or carrot cake. "

" I am a forward-looking person and live in the moment to build for the future. "

" Apartheid didn't impinge on music. It impinged on people's freedoms. "

" Not only in Africa but in much of the world, most leaders' pockets are lined by industrial business. And industrial business is never going to stop aiming at profit. "

" It's obvious that the rest of the world loves high African culture - African culture, period. "

" I don't think any musician ever thinks about making a statement. I think everybody goes into music loving it. "

" Africa has been troubled for a long time - well, the world has been troubled ever since I was born. "

" In some townships, political parties are run by thugs financed from Cape Town. If we don't have support of the police, we can not have the ability to organize and to gain even a slight semblance of power. "

" I got possessed by music as an infant. "

" I don't criticise anybody, but I just don't understand religion. Like I don't understand nationalism. These are the two things that cause wars. I don't understand why they are supposed to be good things. "

" I started playing the piano when I was 6 years old 'cause my folks tried to get me away from the gramophone. And I just - I lived for music since I could think. And they got me piano lessons. So by the time I was 13, I was quite an accomplished piano player and musician. "

" I don't think anybody has ever been able to live up to what they promised. I don't know a government that has ever been successful at that because once they get into power, things change and the world is controlled also by business now. "

" I'm very interested in heritage restoration, and I'm working with a group of people to create a number of academies and performance spaces to encourage native arts and crafts and to explore African history. "

" Twenty years ago, I was part of a movement of millions of people who were going after freedom. But today, they look and they say, 'What are the advantages of freedom?' So far, it's the vote and maybe, in certain places, lack of police harassment. You can live anywhere you want and do anything you want - if you have the means. "

" I've got to where am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture. "