The majority of you have probably never heard of a man named Sixto Rodriguez. Neither had I until a couple days ago.

Sixto Rodriguez was born July 10, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, immigrants from Mexico, named him Sixto because he was the sixth child in his family.

Little did he know, his upbringing as a part of the inner city poor would influence his life in more ways than he could imagine.

Rodriguez, who worked construction, was performing in a bar one night when he was discovered as an American folk singer. He signed with a small label named Impact, and produced the single “I’ll Slip Away.”

A couple years later, Rodriguez signed with Sussex Records, and produced both of his albums, “Cold Fact” and “Coming From Reality.” For some reason, most likely because of his Hispanic heritage, Rodriguez’ career in North America flopped.

Sussex Records dropped him, two weeks before Christmas, a premonition which came true from his song “Cause.”

Little did he know, Rodriguez was a super star in conservative South Africa. The story goes that an American girl came to South Africa to visit her boyfriend, with “Cold Facts” in tow. What proceeded from there was boot-legging and importing of copies.

When the copies ran dry, Australian record company Blue Goose Music bought the rights to his back catalogue, and released his two albums.

Rodriguez had become an icon of South African culture. Children ran around on the streets singing his songs. His music opened their eyes to something else, with songs like “I Wonder” helping along the realization that there was a way to fight the South African government: through music.

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