South African composer, vocalist and Bassist (Bah-gee-tee Koomah-low) was born in Alexandria Township of Johannesburg. Abandoned by his father as a toddler, he was raised by his mother, a singer, and his family in nearby Soweto. He was exposed to local music styles such as Mbaqanaga (a groove peculiar to the townships), mbube (a capella vocal music) and jive (electric, urban pop) while he was very young. He decided to become a musician at an early age, and by age seven was performing in his uncle's band. Due to his persistence, he quickly became a regular on the wedding and party circuits around the township. At ten, he went on tour into Zululand where he remained for a year-and-a-half. During that time, he practiced the bass tirelessly. It was at that time that he developed his unique approach to bass playing.

With an established reputation as a prodigy, Bakithi started to get recording session work, but the record companies were exploitive (he was paid as little as $2.50 per side) and money remained scarce. As an only child, he felt a profound sense of responsibility to his mother, but never doubted that he would someday become a famous musician and would be able to take care of her.

Bakithi's fame grew, but his music career was still a terrible struggle, and he was seriously considering a career as a car mechanic at the time Paul Simon called him in 1985. Simon was in South Africa to assemble a band for his "Graceland" album. A well-known Johannesburg producer suggested Bakithi for his unique ability. Simon was entranced by his sound and flew Bakithi to New York to complete tracks for the album. His indelible contributions to the Grammy-winning "Graceland" album gave him major visibility in the American music industry. He found himself much in demand for recordings and tours with many great artists, such as Chaka Khan, Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Laurie Anderson, Jon Secada and Gloria Estefan.

Bakithi has most recently put down roots in Long Island, New York with his wife, singer Robbi Hall Kumalo and their two children. They went to South Africa during 1997 and again in 1998 where they both performed at the Cape Town Jazz Festival with Regina Carter, Carl Anderson and Donald Harrison.