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- Gqom 2.0.
- If gqom had a CEO, it would be DJ Lag. The South African artist has found enormous success since teaching himself to produce and DJ as a teenager in Durban, to the point that he famously worked with Beyoncé on the Lion King soundtrack. His style of gqom, a heaving, powerful type of club music, has become sleek and often catchy, growing from classic gqom vibes (like "Ice Drop") into thrilling hybrids such "Lucifer," his collaboration with amapiano artist Lady Du.
Like so much dance music around the world at this point, DJ Lag's newest productions are informed by the red-hot, ultra-suave sound of amapiano, another South African-born genre. His long-awaited debut album, Meeting With The King, features plenty of flirtations with amapiano and house styles, working with some of South Africa's most talented artists and coming up with a sound he's christened gqom 2.0. You can hear DJ Lag's expansive, exciting vision in his RA Podcast, an hour of cutting-edge South African dance music that lays out some of the sounds (and artists) you'll be hearing all year, from amapiano to Afrotech and Afro house and many intriguing things in between.
What are you grateful for these days?
Grateful to be alive after Covid-19, grateful to be back on tour, grateful to release my first album and grateful for all the support my team, media and people around the world has shown me building up to this.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
It was recorded in my studio in Durban. I had friends over to hang out while I was mixing it. You can put it loud and party to the mix or you can put your headphones on and get lost in the music. There is a lot of my new music in there too.
Gqom is spreading around the world and even to the mainstream. Where do you see the genre going, and how do you keep it true to its roots?
Genres grow, they change. Music is dynamic. In my sound you will hear that I am still very focused on drums and that is the influence of original gqom sounds. In this album, Meeting With The King, I am experimenting with the BPM and slowing things down but also adding different sounds and definitely have been very focused on vocals, I call this new style gqom 2.0 and there is Afrotech, Afro house and Amapiano influences. I am definitely not interested in keeping my sound the same and it is exciting to see where we will go from here. Also very exciting to see people's responses to the evolution of my sound. Has been amazing so far!
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
Two causes that are very close to my heart are children's education and housing for underprivileged communities in South Africa. I have a four year-old son and from my own upbringing, education is a very important way to have good opportunities in the future, but unfortunately in South Africa good education is very expensive and only a small number of us can afford it. Housing is a real crisis in South Africa and people in my community have this major problem, which means having to live in shacks.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I want to see my record label Ice Drop release more new talent. Want to see my event Something For Clerrmont become an annual festival, and to get a Grammy!
You've started incorporating amapiano into your work, too. What are some of the sounds and artists in South Africa that you've been excited about lately?
Lady Du's vocals definitely define the genre. She has a very playful and naive style of performing in tracks. She is also a very gifted writer who comes up with great lines and hooks. I really enjoyed the work we did together on "Lucifer."
Sha Sha is great. The melodies and range of her voice are remarkable. She will go places for sure!
Vigro Deep. We are working on a track together at the moment. I like that he takes amapiano to a darker place. He is a very interesting producer and you can hear his style is different from other producers of the genre.
DBN Gogo is obviously beyond just a DJ, as her brand her grown fast over the past year. I think it is great that amapiano has such a strong female ambassador.
Major League DJZ. As with DBN Gogo they have a strong brand and that is very good in flying South African electronic music's flag around the world. We also were selected for the Black Voices YouTube campaign together amongst hundreds of applicants so there is a partnership there.
Lista de sequência de músicasDJ Lag feat. Amanda black - Destiny
Thukzin feat. Funky Qla and DJ Bongs - Let Go
Deep Narratives - Amenisto
DJ Lag feat. Mshunqisi - Eyamabomu
Worst Behaviour - xxx
Blackshandis - xxx
DJ Lag feat. Lady Du - Lucifer
Blackshandis feat. General Cmamane - BSGC
Dj Lag feat. Mr JazziQ - Khavude
Funk tone - lsitswebhu
Deep Narratives - Lazy Shandis
Mshunqisi feat. Darksilver - Awuze Uzizwele
DJ Lag - Into Ongayazi
Omagoqa - Njenge Nja
DJ Lag feat. Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha - Ikhehla
Funk tone - Siyakhuphuma
DJ Lag feat. Jakzin and General Cmamane - No Childs Play
General Cmamane - Kwangoku
DJ Lag - Raptor
DJ Lag - Hunter 22