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Abdullah Ibrahim was born on October 9, 1934, in a township of Cape Town, South Africa, and would later be characterized as "coloured" in the apartheid race system. He was born Adolph Johannes Brand into a Christian family, and later converted to Islam and changed his name in 1968. His mother was Khoisan and his father was Bosotho.

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American jazz music traveled to South Africa and became an emblem of people opposing the divide, impacting musicians like Miriam Makeba, Chris McGregor, and Abdullah Ibrahim. According to Robin D. G. Kelley, "jazz served as one of the prevailing sound tracks of struggle" in 1950s South Africa. Sathima Bea Benjamin called jazz performances "a center of expression, and it was beautiful." (Africa Speaks, America Answers)

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His first exposures to jazz music included listening to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington on the radio and watching his grandmother, an organist for the local African Methodist Episcopalian church. (Africa Speaks, America Answers)

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The Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 extinguished the welcoming atmosphere jazz could once bring. The government had a greater animosity towards jazz because of its power to bring people together. Later, Ibrahim had to flee South Africa in 1962 because the regime kept him under constant surveillance and viewed him as a threat. (Africa Speaks, America Answers)

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In 1989, Ibrahim went on the talk show After Dark and spoke about South Africa. He says, "They put Africa on a cash crop economy to support an international throwaway culture. That is what the design is...We eat hamburgers because we are forced to grow cash crops...The basical problem here is that people do not understand or conceive what is happening in Africa" The comment was in response to the international white person's view of what young people do in South Africa. As a person who had to flee South Africa, Ibrahim is aware of the distorted visions of his home. The people also bring up the aftermath of the possibility of apartheid ending. He says, "you don't know my world" and the video ends as he says, "we can take care of ourselves." They do not need Western ideologies or economic practices. This is because they have universities and education and know how to pick and weave cotton to design and wear clothing.

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When beginning his musical career, he adopted the stage name "Dollar Brand." The Brand came from his last name. Later in life, he changed his name to Abdullah Ibrahim. (South Africa History Online)

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Playing The Piano At A Tiny Desk Concert!

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Playing The Piano At A Tiny Desk Concert!

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Abdullah Ibrahim: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

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As a member of the mixed-race group the Jazz Epistles, Gallo Studios, a South African record company, reached out to record an album with them. However, they were notorious for underpaying black musicians and gave the band seventy-six pounds and no royalties. In addition, they did not promote their next record extensively, possibly because of fear of the growing violence in the police state. For their performances, Ibrahim and the Jazz Epistles played in exclusively white clubs but were forced to take breaks in uncomfortable areas. This experience would later inspire their song, "Scullery Department." (Africa Speaks, America Answers)

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Ibrahim is known for his jazz music and overall influence in the change in the modern jazz style. He worked as a pianist and composer with his wife, Sathima Bea Benjamin, and especially with his band The Jazz Epistles. His wife, Sathima Bea Benjamin, was considered "coloured," and was a talented but less-known jazz vocalist who impacted jazz similarly with her emotional vocals. (Africa Speaks, America Answers)