Josiah Hadebe

Josiah (sometimes spelled Josaya) Hadebe was one of the pioneering guitarists and recording artists of early African urban music, and a largely overlooked figure in the story of maskandi. Born in what is now Zimbabwe, Hadebe emerged from Bulawayo’s vibrant musical culture of the 1930s, where wandering guitarists known as omasiganda performed on street corners, at social gatherings and in township venues.

Hadebe became one of the most celebrated of these musicians. With his guitar, distinctive fingerpicking style and flamboyant cowboy attire, he developed a stage presence that blended Western country and cowboy style influences with local African musical traditions. His playing popularised ukuvamba, a guitar technique built around strumming two or three chords on the lower strings while picking out melodies on the higher strings. That approach would become an important part of the guitar language associated with maskandi.

His performances drew enormous crowds, and his repertoire combined guitar music with izibongo, the tradition of praise poetry. Songs such as Wazibamba Emarabini demonstrated the distinctive musical vocabulary that was beginning to emerge around him. Hadebe also recorded more than 15 songs for Gallo, making him one of the early African artists captured by the pioneering Gallo recording operation.

Hadebe later travelled south into South Africa, where his reputation continued to grow.

His influence became particularly significant when he encountered John ‘Phuzushukela’ Bhengu, who would become one of the defining figures in the development of maskandi. Hadebe is credited with teaching him aspects of his guitar technique, helping carry the musical tradition from Bulawayo into KwaZulu-Natal.

Today, Hadebe is an important link between Zimbabwe’s early township guitar traditions and the later evolution of South African maskandi. His name may be less familiar than those who followed him, but his guitar helped lay the foundations for a sound that would become deeply embedded in South African musical culture.