On his revered fifth reggae album, Lucky Dube (August 3, 1964–October 18, 2007) conjured one of his best-selling records to date. Achieving critical acclaim, multiple awards, and multi-platinum success with 1989’s Prisoner, the Ermelo-born legend once more aligned the four pillars that upheld his oeuvre—the personal, social, political, and spiritual. Channeling the agitations of his nation at the sunset of apartheid, Dube’s reflections on the South African condition contained broad strokes that proved relatable both continentally and globally. From the soulful ruminations on systemic incarceration on “Prisoner,” the wailing “War and Crime,” analysis of parasitic relations on “Dracula” to the reflections on absent parenthood on “Remember Me” and the cautionary “False Prophets,” Prisoner attained its impact from Dube’s stridence in spreading a positive message, as “Don’t Cry” attests. Marking 35 years since its 1989 release, Prisoner seems just as resonant in 2024, perhaps foreshadowed by the omnipresent impulse of “Reggae Strong.” Much like that of his own influences in Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff, the enduring quality of Dube’s music has had palpable expression in new generations of artists whose fusions of Afrobeats, dancehall, and reggae have seen them serve as griots of their own eras. As this lineage of combining message and rhythm persists, so does Dube’s Afrocentric take on reggae that prioritized activism without sacrificing mainstream orientations. So did the themes of Dube’s preceding albums (a preoccupation with future generations on Think About the Children, the indignity of oppression on Slave, and a call for unity on Together as One) find further expression on this widely heralded offering. Perhaps, though, the title of Dube’s first reggae outing, 1984’s Rastas Never Dies, best captures his timeless impact on music and the world at large.