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South Africa

DJ Lag and Mr Nation Thingz link up for new video, 'Hade Boss': Watch

K.C. Driller features on the South African stars' recent hit, which now has a visual directed by Vice Drey

DJ Lag has teamed up with Mr Nation Thingz on the new music video for their 'Hade Boss' single. Watch the clip below. The South...

Photo of DESIREE wearing a purple hat and eye-makeup on an emerald background

Soaring ascents, the kind that can take an artist from obscurity to stardom in what seems to be the blink of an eye, don’t occur often, in dance music or elsewhere – those who are lucky enough to have that experience often disappear just as quickly. But there’s little chance of a quick fade for South Africa’s Palesa Desiree Shilabje, the DJ and producer known to the world as DESIREE, who in just a few short years has proved to be one of the international festival circuit’s most exciting new stars. Here, Bruce Tantum hears her story, and about how her evolution through music has been as organic as they come

“I’m finally home.” Those three words are among the first that the South African DJ and producer Palesa Desiree Shilabje utters when DJ Mag catches...

ultraSA

Its return to Cape Town and Johannesburg in March features Afrojack, Skrillex, Major League DJz, DBN Gogo

Ultra South Africa has shared the full line-up for its 2024 festival. Returning to Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town on 1st March and the Expo...

South Africa’s Search Festival announces Jamz Supernova, Jumping Back Slash, Esa, more for New Year festival

The ninth edition also welcomes Donna Leake, Data Takashi and Ashanti Tribe

South Africa's Search Festival has announced the full line-up for its New Year festival. Jamz Supernova, Jumping Back Slash, Esa and Donna Leake are among...

Illustrated collage of the South African flag with various DJs and producers on a green background

In South Africa's burgeoning ballroom scene, pioneering figures and DJs are finding their own ‘Ha’ in the country's past, and in the contemporary sounds of gqom, amapiano, and Afrobeats. Tazmé Pillay learns more

“DJ, cut the beat.” The room falls silent — an unforgivable sin anywhere else, but this is no nightclub. This is a ball. The competitors...

Photo of Charisse C and Koek Sista wearing suits in front of a blue cloudy background

The EP features the previously released singles ‘Khulula’ and ‘I Said What I Said’

Charisse C and Koek Sista have shared their self-titled debut EP as The Ascension. Check it out below. The five-track project arrives via Brixton label...

Black and white photo of Gonubie smiling and looking through a window with reflections

The 8-track ambient-leaning album will arrive on 6th September

Gonubie (aka dj raresoftware) has announced her debut album, ‘Signals At Both Ears’, and shared the first single. Listen to ‘Cuvier’s’ below. Arriving on 6th...

Da Capo releases new EP, ‘Bakone’: Listen

The South African Afro house mainstay's latest five-track offering features Batundi, Nana Attah, Lokau Kanza and Da Africa Deep

Afro house mainstay Da Capo's latest EP is called 'Bakone'. Listen to it below. The title of the South African producer's new five-track offering means...

DJ Lag and Novelist cruise in a car in the music video for ‘Bulldozer’

The king of gqom and the award-winning MC drop a summer-ready single 

DJ Lag and Novelist have released their collaboration ‘Bulldozer’, accompanied by a music video that shows the pair cruising around London and performing live. The...

The Ascension pose with flowers in an April 2023 press shot

A soothing amapiano single officially introduces the London-based duo

The Ascension have released their debut single ‘Khulula’ – check out the dreamy amapiano cut below. Comprising Zimbabwe-born, UK-raised DJ and producer Charisse C, and...

Map of Gauteng province in South Africa, with photos of interviewees inside, all on a yellow stylised backdrop

South Africa's love for house music flourished in the early ’90s as the Apartheid era ended, pushed primarily by DJs in and around Johannesburg and Pretoria. Now, it's a focal point, filled with local styles and stars. Martin Guttridge-Hewitt heads to Gauteng to learn the story of the scene’s origins, and the risks its pioneers took to pave the way for its thriving industry today

It’s sometime after 11pm on a warm December night when DJ Mag meets Vinny Da Vinci. An understated guy, this giant of South Africa’s club...

The upcoming LP will be released 7th April

The album was recorded with a 13-member ensemble

Desire Marea has announced the release of his second album, ‘On The Romance Of Being’, and has shared a music video of the first single...

The Sound Of: MoBlack Records

After being immersed in the Afro house scene during a decade living in Ghana, Mimmo Falcone launched MoBlack Records to help promote the sound internationally. Nearly 10 years and over 500 releases later, the label is a crucial outpost for the sound.  Alongside a mix from its catalogue, Kitty Amor learns the label’s story

Hailing from Naples, Mimmi Falcone now known as the artist MoBlack — had a desire to share his passion for music and become a DJ...

Phelimuncasi

South African gqom trio Phelimuncasi have risen to fame with their politically charged vocals and innovative beats. Makua Adimora catches up with them to learn about their new album ‘Ama Gogela’, their creative process, and why their music is here to entertain and agitate in equal measure

“‘Phelimuncasi’ means ‘you drink whatever you drink with a straw and you finish it’,” Khera, one-third of the South African gqom trio, Phelimuncasi, tells DJ...

moonchild_sanelly2022

"What came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Moonchild Sanelly has unveiled the music video for her track 'Chicken'. Watch it below. Playfully musing on a classical philosophical quandary ("What came first, the...

Sio by Ray Manzana

Kitty Amor speaks to South African singer-songwriter Sio about her new album, 'Torn Tapestries', on STY TRU BTS and her journey to poetic house music majesty

A singer-songwriter who barely knew her own talent, over the past decade, Sio has become the voice for the voiceless. Having received Apple Music’s Album...

MS in a pool float

Delivering explosive, quick-witted lyricism over beats that blend kwaito, amapiano and gqom with grime, punk and pop, South Africa's Moonchild Sanelly has become a global sensation. Here, she speaks to Makua Adimora about freedom of expression and her new album, 'Phases'

“I always describe myself as ‘Snow White turns 21 and then the seven dwarfs become her strippers’,” Moonchild Sanelly says matter-of-factly, when speaking to DJ...

Compilation of the Month: Various Artists ‘Stay True Sounds Vol.4’

The fourth compilation on Kid Fonque’s Stay True Sounds label is an enthralling testament to South Africa’s underground house scene

South Africa’s ascendance to the forefront of global house music has been something to behold. The SA house scene emerged following liberation from apartheid and...

Stay True Sounds logo on a pink background

South Africa’s biggest independent label is taking house music to new heights and changing the lives of local artists in the process. Alongside a mix of tracks from its catalogue, founder Kid Fonque speaks to Kitty Amor about the rise and rise of Stay True Sounds

Over the past six years, three words have come to dominate any conversation about South African electronic music: Stay True Sounds. Recognised as the biggest...

Themba

South African house DJ and producer Themba has become a global star in recent years. Alongside a mix of thumping and emotive house for the On Cue series, Kristan J Caryl chats to him about his childhood obsession with collecting music, his ambitious 2021 album ‘Modern Africa Volume 1 (Ekhaya)’, and uplifting African artists around him

“Because of our history, we sing and we dance,” says Themba. “It’s our getaway from everything.” Music has been the renowned South African DJ and...