The local music industry had a strange sense of deja vu when, on the eighth anniversary of the death of Brenda Fassie, news broke that Kwaito star Brown Dash had succumbed to illness. First announced on fellow musician Bricks’ Twitter feed, the news quickly spread that the 33-year old singer, whose real name was Simphiwe Mpamile, died at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto. He was rushed there on Monday after complaining about feeling bad at his home in Melville, Johannesburg.

The energetic Brown Dash, so-called for his love of brown car dashboards, had his professional breakthrough alongside masked Kwaito star Mzekeseke in the single Phans’komthumzi welanga. He followed this with his 2003 solo debut, the DJ Cleo-produced Puff ‘n Pass, which would secure a SAMA nomination. In 2005 that translated into a win when his second album, Mthandazo Wabolova, picked up the award for Best Kwaito Album.

Tongues were wagging at the latest SAMA awards, where a frail-looking Brown Dash performed. Similar concerns were raised at his last-known show this past Thursday at DaVinci in the suburb of Sandton. The star was known to have health problems – he was admitted in 2010 for chest pains and had fluid drained from his lungs. His wife, Lunga, died nearly a year ago.

Brown Dash followed his sophomore success with the album Dashboard, but he soon left TS Records amidst rumors that it didn’t meet sales expectations. His fourth album, Back2Kasi, also failed to set the charts alight.

Thousands of tributes have poured out for Brown Dash, who trended on South Africa’s Twittersphere. This included a sad farewell from TS Records, which changed its background to his photo. Radio station Metro FM played a short tribute to the artist, while numerous fans and fellow musos shared messages across social networks.

“Brown Dash was one of those musicians that kept kwaito raw and real,” Kwaito legend Arthur Mafokate told local newspapers. “I used to tell him he had potential. But then he went on to help rescue kwaito and won the Song of the Year award and inspired a lot of kids.”

Watch the music video for Puff ‘n Pass here:

By James Francis