music
Sixto Rodriguez: American Zero South African Hero
We are in the late ‘60s, the Civil Rights movement is rising, the Vietnam war is raging, and apartheid is dividing, but music, culture, and people’s mind are changing. Amongst this messy context, a lower-class construction worker from Detroit will change the world. Without even knowing it! Let me tell you the unbelievable story of Sixto Rodriguez, one of the voices of oppressed people in South Africa during the apartheid.
B
orn in 1942 in Detroit, Sixto Rodriguez comes from a poor Mexican immigrant family that came to Detroit to seek a job in the industrial branch. At this time, Mexican immigrants were marginalized and alienated by the US people, a topic he approaches in his songs very often. He worked in demolition and production lines and consistently earned a low income. But the real story begins now. In 1967, under “Rod Riguez,” he published a single called Robert Sobukwe during an antiapartheid protest, 1960
6 - VOICES
“I’ll Slip Away,” which went unnoticed by the audience. Three years later, after signing with Sussex Records, he published his first album, “Cold Fact,” in 1970, and a year later, in 1971, his second album, “Coming from reality.” Both are incredibly great albums, discussing anti-establishment, sex, and working conditions. The albums are made from ballads and folk songs with a few psychedelic influences, which are rising in this period. Unfortunately, they both made big flops in the USA, only selling a couple of copies. This led the record labels to abandon him and resign their deal. Rodriguez wasn’t furious about it, so he returned to
