Where reconciliation stops

By Sbu Ngubane

Life hasn’t been that rosy for Deborah Fraser lately. Although the gospel diva is currently enjoying a steady success with more than half a dozen albums that have swept South Africa by storm, a dark shadow of a cloud has threatened her blossoming career when she got into a public spat with the late Brenda Fassie and Chicco Twala. In this exclusive interview with Sbu Ngubane she answers all dangling questions related to this saga and discloses reasons behind her media expose...

                                     Deborah Fraser

Was the song Udlalile Ngabantu in your third album in reference to any one in particular?

Not at all. I was just warning people that ill-treating others is ungodly.

You went public with allegations that it was  your own voice in Brenda Fassie’s Memeza, Noma Kanjani, and Mina Ngohlala Nginje. Any new developments about this saga?

Well, there are few clarifications I’d like to make. Firstly, I’d would like to squash rumours that say I was motivated by jealousy to go public about this issue. By nature I’m not a jealous person, therefore as a God fearing woman I’d never make up such stories with mere malice intentions. If the parties accused knew I was lying, why didn’t they take the legal recourse and sue me. God blessed me with a beautiful voice and I felt unfairly treated when they tried to exploit my talent. As a result, after exhausting all the right channels to get what rightfully belonged to me, which is my royalties in this regard, I was left with no option but to go public about my problems. In this way I was motivated by justice.

What role did you actually play in these projects?

I’m glad you asked that question because some people thought I was just a sessionist who wanted to pocket all the money…

Okay, just before you go further, in layman’s terms can you explain what a sessionist is?

When you do sessions as a musician you actually sing certain lines on another artist’s album by way of featuring in a particular song or songs.

And I guess that does not necessarily make that particular sessionist a stakeholder in the album.

Not at all, but a sessionist would do that for a particular once off fee.

So, was your case different?

Technically yes. They called me…

Who?

Brenda and Chicco, to provide a guiding voice for Brenda’s lines.

More or less like to provide a key note to a song or something?

Not exactly, because if you give a key, like in choral music for example, you sing the first line or stanza of the song to remind the choristers of the right key to start the song and let them sing the rest of the song. In my case I was leading Brenda note for note throughout the songs in her album without being made aware that my voice was being recorded on the other side to be blended with her own voice. Since this was no part of the deal, I was shocked to hear my voice when her album Memeza came out.

But why would such an experienced artist be guided by you and her voice be blended with your own?

It’s no longer a secret that she had lost her own voice for reasons related to years of drug abuse.

Then how come you allowed this exploitation, as you put it, to go on and on by recording another couple of albums with her?

By nature I’m a generous and forgiving person. That’s why when they came back begging for help  after double-crossing me with the first one I gave them a second chance, with a hope that some sense would prevail. So I gave in and sang once again on  Noma Kanjani. Little did I know that the lightening would strike twice, if you know what I mean. It was very difficult for them to persuade me to do the third album Mina Ngohlala Nginje and I must admit, I only relented for one reason only, the stupid sense of love I have for singing. I also got nothing for it. It’s then that I realised they were mistaking my generosity for foolishness. They also took an advantage of the fact that I love singing, and as such I do it with such passion and dedication, sometimes, like in this case for example, to a point of becoming too naïve. They exploited this gentle side of my character trait and enriched themselves in the expense of my talent.

That’s quite sad to hear

The least they could do was to acknowledge my contribution. In fact, I expected them to mention that I featured in the album.

Something like Brenda Fassie featuring Deborah Fraser?

Exactly, but guess what, when I finally went to the media to expose them they initially denied my involvement in these projects, casting me and my brand under a very bad light. I was called a liar who is just jealous of Brenda’s fledgling career. But I’m glad the truth came out at last when Chicco finally admitted that he had used my voice in these albums.

Since the expose, have you been paid anything?

Not a cent, except for a VW Golf car that Chicco later gave to me as a gift. I sold it for R15 000. Talk of guilty conscience.

Maybe that was your payment

If it was, then it was a big joke because before Brenda’s three albums, Chicco owed me a fortune in royalties for the other three projects I had previously done with him; that’s New Age’s Kai Kapa Kai, ZCC Female Choir and Maria le Maria. These projects combined sold a million copies. So can you imagine how much is R15 000 compared to the profit a million copies make. No wonder he even failed to give me an explanation when I asked him for which of these projects the Golf car was paying.

Are you on talking terms with him right now?

Yes. He came to me and apologised, saying as Christians we should forgive each other.

So another collaboration can be expected in the future?

Never. At collaborating again is where reconciliation stops. I’ve made it clear that I will never work with him again.

On a lighter note, ever since the gospel music genre became the bestselling commodity in the market lately, we have seen a number of artists dumping pop music for it, what do you think is the reason for this?

I’m not going to speak on behalf of other artists but concerning myself, it wasn’t a case of joining a gravy train at all. Bearing testimony to this is the fact that  even before I started recording my first gospel album, I had backed up a number of local and international stars like Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Stimela, Jonas Gwangwa, Quincy Jones, Jon Secada, Bebe Wynans and Cindy Lauper at a time when pop music dominated the markets. I could have easily opted to follow the trend but for the love of praising the Lord I didn’t. In return the Lord has blessed me a lot. Today I have two lovely children after a long spell struggling to get one, that’s why I’ll keep on praising Him in song until my last breath on earth.

Thanks for your time Sis Deb

It’s my pleasure.