Black Dillinger

Nkululeko Madolo aka BLACK DILLINGER, was born in a township called Gugulethu, in the
rough ghettoes of Cape town, South Africa. As a youngster, this tradition of resistance also
inspired his love for music and soon he began to make himself a name among a powerful new
generation of reggae artist in the townships. In 2004, BLACK DILLINGER’s talent was
recognized for the first time internationally, when a song called BIG TROUBLE was
featured in the renowned German Riddim Magazine. Soon, the young Rastafarian was
invited to play his first gig in Europe. It took just one performance at Berlin’s famous Yaam Club
to convince Ganjaman, top-producer at the German Reggae label MKZWO, of the
enormous potential of the young African. BLACK DILLINGER decided to extend his stay,
the two became friends, and soon he began to record his debut album. In April 2007, his first
album LIVE AND LEARN was released, including features with successful reggae artist
like Vido Jelashe (RSA), Rebellion the Recaller (GA) and Jah Meek (JA). In the meantime, the
upcoming reggae star had managed to establish himself firmly in the European Reggae
scene. He has since been touring constantly all over the continent and has been invited to
play on Europe’s biggest reggae festivals, like the Summer Jam or the Chiemsee Reggae
Festival. He has also impressed his fans with video productions in Jamaica and a number of
successful single releases, most notably his anti-Bush anthem AMERICA (GANGSTALAW
riddim) and the love-ballade IT’S ALRIGHT (GROW WITH ME riddim). BLACK DILLINGER’s
second album LOVE LIFE was a powerful testimony to the South African’s musical
and spiritual journey through countries and continents. Recorded over two years at Berlin based
IMmusic studios, the collection is rich of inspiring musical encounters with other
African, Caribbean and European artists, such as Mark Wonder, Terror Fabulous, Rebellion
the Recaller, or Cali P. Traversing shades of black music from Roots to Dancehall and from
R’n’B to Soca, every song is still marked by the unique, innovative style and hallmark voice
the reggae star from Cape town. The singer, already called by some ‘South-Africa’s Sizzla’,
switches effortlessly between velvety soft melodies and rough, rapid-fire flows. Co-operations
with a couple of Jamaica’s most-renowned producers such as Bobby Digital or Syl Gordon
(Cellblock) round off the skillfully arranged riddims by the German producer duo, which give
Black Dillinger the room to develop his exceptional talents to their full potential. A wonderful,
mature album that affirmed the South African’s claim to his country’s throne of reggae music,
left empty since the tragic demise of superstar Lucky Dube. True to his SOUTH AFRICAN
roots and to show his versatility, BLACK DILLINGER has been working on collaborations with a
variety of Big and talented artists from different genres in his home country such as the award winning ZULUBOY,NTANDO, MAPAPUTSI and MXO also taking time to work on collaborations with up and coming artists such as ZAKWE and the Cape Town based Hip-hop crew DRIEMANSKAP. BLACK DILLINGER met King Richman of Austria while visiting the country to perform and that was the birth of his now released BETTER TOMORROW album by the young Austrian label Richvibes Records. With BETTER TOMORROW, BLACK DILLINGER’s third album, boundaries were pushed to the fullest. Heading off with Trust No Politician, a personal take on this new world order followed by You Must Be which talks about being a person you’ve never been before and being righteous. Also included in the album were fresh hip hop remixes of Volcano Erupt and The Richvibes Anthem, true reggae vibes with Streets of Mbare and Title track Better Tomorrow. Black Dillinger received his first Major nomination for the Channel O Most Gifted Ragga Dancehall video category for his international club banger Volcano Erupt in the 2011 awards. – certainly one of the most promising new voices in international reggae music!