Singing Against AIDS: Sony BMG Acts Freshly Ground and Vusi Mahlasela

“Crossover,” the art of blending different musical genres, is all the rage these days. But for the South African Sony BMG band Freshly Ground, there is a whole deeper meaning to the word: though Freshly Ground certainly play a “crossover“ repertoire, the composition of their band also “crosses over” the age-old boundaries of skin color - boundaries that are still very evident elsewhere in South African music. The band skillfully blends the best of both worlds, and triumphantly so: Their chartbusting “Doo Be Doo” went on to conquer charts well beyond South African borders. The album, “Nomvula,” just went platinum for 50,000 records sold in its home market. And Freshly Ground aren’t just good at what they do, they also do good with it: the band recently played at a benefit concert for the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, together with fellow Sony BMG act Vusi Mahlasela.

The two Sony BMG acts have thus joined forces in the battle against one of South Africa ’s most urgent problems. Each day, 600 people here die of AIDS. Bishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu set up his foundation to help prevent and research AIDS and help people infected with HIV as much as possible. The foundation’s facilities include a research center of its own at the University of Cape Town .

Prior to his concert appearance with Freshly Ground, Vusi Mahlasela was named the official spokesperson of the Anti-AIDS campaign “46664” – by South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela himself. This puts Mahlasela in good company: former ambassadors include a slew of celebrities and stars including Bill Clinton, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Brad Pitt, Ronaldo, Bono, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. The object of the initiative is to draw worldwide attention to the threat posed by the autoimmune disease, especially to Africa.

Creating attention was the idea behind the benefit concert in Cape Town as well – and how better to do so than with stars whose fame already radiates far beyond South Africa: Mahlasela will be touring the U.K. later this month and is the only South African featured on the official “Live 8” DVD, and Freshly Ground have already played to audiences in Germany, Belgium, Tanzania and Mauritius.