Hugh Masekela

2 submissions

Song	Category	League	Submitted by	Votes
Stimela (The Coal Train)	Songs Sammy Would Love	League 3 (Jun 2025)	judd.baker	4 Regina Scime +1 Edward James +1 — I think this is the most inspired pick (other than my own of course 😎). I can hear Sammy giggling and saying “awesome” after nearly every single line of this song. Not only does it paint a vivid picture in specific language I know he would be tickled by, it also has just an absolutely incredible rhythm to it. In another world, I can imagine Sammy romancing his long lost South African love interest to this. Alas, a future, which like the train itself, has already departed the station. Joseph Harvey +1 — Absolutely banging submission. Captivating throughout its runtime, beautiful spoken word delivery and excellent musicianship. I was hoping for an African submission from someone, as that's an essential niche in the Sammy musical matrix, and this did not disappoint. Claire +1 — I feel like this is the sort of niche song that Sammy could really get into, bc it’s both musically interesting and also expresses a concrete, particular, cultural/historical moment SamRobertsND +1 — Pardon my french, but any lesser words would be unjust: this f**king blew me away. This is a perfect work of performance art. The growing percussion is brimming with dread, evoking the terror of the coal train. The lyrics drip out of the music. The extended/freeform brass section leads into palpably emotional singing, more crying out than anything else. The thundering finale is...how do you even describe it? Fury? Grief? Remembrance? Perhaps all three. As I said in another comment, I love songs that tell a story. Here, the song itself IS the story, or rather it's the whole performance rather than the lyrics alone. That might not make full sense, but it's hard to put into words what I think this accomplishes on emotional and sensual levels. I would've been entertained by a random African song but not mesmerized as I have been here. This pick was a masterstroke, edged out only by a deeper cut. Silver!! 🥈 fionmul 0 — Any song that says “hinterland” I can appreciate. And that was some sexily elite trumpet playing dayum (in one of the 12 songs that happened in those 10 min) I just know Sami will eat this up. shea nowicki -1 — Listening to this while driving is tough.
Thanayi	Lost In Translation	League 8 (Feb 2026)	judd.baker	8 Peter Seeley +2 — Thank you Judd. ared56 +1 Edward James +1 — Trying to get lightning to strike twice with Hugh Masekela. Not happening like before, but in a field of weak competition, this stood out for sure. Regina Scime +1 — Easy upvote Brad Stalcup +1 — Loved this one. A fusion of so many good things. What a pleasure to listen to. One of my favorites so far in all of ML Sam Ary +1 Spicey Riche +1 SamRobertsND 0 — Shoulda gona for Stimela again Claire 0 — Stimela was such a revelation that a second song by the same artist doesn’t feel like an original enough pull. But this song is fun and very different judd.baker 0 — In the spirit of being lost in translation, I actually can’t find translated lyrics for this song, although Google Translate apparently does have Xhosa. Best I can figure out is that it’s a song celebrating how beautiful his wife/girlfriend is while also making fun of her for being a picky eater. (The lyric “bunny chow” is not a failed transcription of a Xhosa word, he’s really singing about bunny chow)