ALMOST four years since the death of music maestro Robbie Malinga, his wife of over 18 years Ann Malinga will tomorrow unveil one of her many planned projects that will serve as a continuous celebration of her late husband’s legacy.
The do will be staged at the Universal Music offices today, as they mark Robbie’s 53rd birthday, where Ann will reveal what she has been busy with behind the scenes, work that she admits took her back to the very pain that she felt when her husband died.
The award-winning muso died on Christmas day in 2017 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“Trying to decide on how to honour someone like Robbie has been so difficult for me because you want to do it right. I think in the past month, especially, it has just been so emotionally draining. I remember when I started planning, at first I thought I won’t be able to pull it off but then went back, talked myself into realising that this is within my scope of expertise and I am sure of, especially since it is not anchored on music,” she said, admitting that she knows little about the music industry.
“Now that we are here, I am really excited and humbled, but also this coupled with mixed emotions,” she said.
Malinga not only left a huge catalogue of music that he produced but evidently left a huge mark in fellow musicians’ hearts, judging by the tributes at his funeral.
“Knowing that the onus is on me to keep his legacy alive is so difficult because Robbie was not only an artist but a music producer, and I know nothing about music. So carrying Robbie’s legacy is something that I cannot tamper with nor do something that I am not sure of.
“I have to sit and plan carefully in order to produce something that will definitely make sense and that is befitting to who he was,” she said, adding that she is proud of what she is presenting tomorrow.
Malinga, who candidly shared memories of their love with us, and facts about the laughter they shared, also said that his love for music was so great that it almost seemed like he lived in the studio most of the time.
“It got better after we had kids because at least if he wasn’t, I had the kids at home with me. Although we still fought about his constant working. For example, he needs to be back home before the kids went to sleep, but because he had so much on his plate and we knew that he loved us unconditionally, we worked around it. If it wasn’t the studio, he’d be travelling. It was a lot,” she said, smiling.
The couple only dated for two years and welcomed their first born right as they got married traditionally in 2001. They later staged their white wedding ceremony in 2012.
Malinga described Robbie as someone who was full of jokes, someone who was more like a friend to her, easy to love and a great father.
“There was never a dull moment with him around and I think that is what made our love so beautiful. Obviously, there is no perfect union, with challenges here and there, but overall he gave me a very beautiful marriage,” she said.
“I remember very well when I met him,” she said, still clearly smitten.
“It was a Sunday, on Valentine's day and I was 19. Myself and a friend went to church and after the service, she said she was going to meet up with her boyfriend and I accompanied her. Robbie came with my friend’s boyfriend and, as cliché as this might sound, it was love at first sight,” she said.
The couple started dating within that week and she says one of the things Robbie appreciated was her ignorance as to who he was.
“I honestly didn’t know who he was nor did I know much about music, and that is actually what he used to say that was special for him. Our love was the kind of love that has left me wondering if I’ll ever meet anyone like him ever again. And honestly, I doubt I will,” she said.
Speaking about the children, Malinga says it seems like their youngest daughter is only starting to make sense of her father’s death now, and would randomly ask questions like, “When Covid is over, will daddy come back?”. But it is Robbie Jnr who has also been hit hard, she admits.
“It has been a roller-coaster for us all, really. A week would go by and I’d think ‘arg I’m good’ until something happens that drags me back to that sour place. I think also because of Covid, there were so many triggers.
“Robbie has been going through emotions as well, but because he is a boy, he hides but it is only when you talk to him will you realise where he is (emotionally). With my youngest, although she knows that daddy is in heaven, it has become apparent that she doesn’t understand why daddy is not coming back. But I do think that it will start making sense as she grows,” Malinga said.
Robbie was laid to rest at West Park Cemetery’s Heroes Acre in Joburg on January 3, 2018.
Sunday Independent