‘DON’T LET HIM DIE’: A PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF LUCKY DUBE’S REGGAE SONGS (PART 2)

Abstract

Lucky Dube is one of Africa’s most influential reggae artists who created music that transcended mere entertainment to reveal deep emotional wounds and survival mechanisms. This article, a Part 2 of a previous one on the same theme, explores how Dube’s lyrical narratives and life experiences reflect key psychological patterns associated with trauma, identity disturbance, and borderline personality traits. After conducting a humanistic textual analysis on new other four of his Reggae songs, apart from the earlier ones explored in Part 1 of this study, the authors discovered indications of emotional expressions of abandonment, emotional dysregulation, and self-fragmentation in Dube’s musicThe authors were able to identify these psychological dimensions in his songs because instead of engaging in diagnosing Dube’s life through his songs, they aimed at understanding his music as a medium of emotional testimony and resilience. The findings of this exploration suggest that Dube’s music served as both an outlet for personal pain and a voice for reflecting the impact of collective trauma; all of which emerged as a multiplier effect of the implementation of the Apartheid policy in the South African context, where systemic violence, family disintegration, and social despair left lasting psychological scars on the Black population in particular. The authors see the need for greater recognition of artists’ works in Africa as psychological testimonies and consequently advocate for developing culturally sensitive mental health outreach to musicians whose art reveals hidden cries for help.