PRINCE AND THE BUFFALOES – Stop the War (1990)

Reamusic/Dream/EMI, RML (V) 2067
Producer: Enoch Nondala
Engineer: Ali Heyns
Recorded at: Delarey Studios


Synth-soaked old skool reggae from ex-Lucky Dube bass player Joe Senoama, Izinkunzi keyboardist Phillip Ngcobo and singer Patrick "Prince" Mbatha, whose Dube-esque falsetto make for (as the notes suggest) - "reggae at its best with a wonderful message of peace".


The title track contains typically profound lyrics that give a bittersweet glimpse into the turbulent political climate of the early 90s, when, with the end of apartheid in sight, faction fighting between the ANC and IFP threatened to derail the transition to democracy:

"What is it you are fighting for? Stop the war, let us fight no more...
Please brothers and sisters, put your weapons down
What is it you are fighting for, when the doors of freedom are to be opened?
Why do you kill innocent people, because of tradition and racial discrimination...
So why do you fight one another, why do you still kill each other?"