Music
This is a snapshot of South African DJ culture
South Africa has become one of house music's major players and its DJ scene is brimming with talent. Ahead of its Red Bull 3Style National Final, here is a brief history of South African DJ culture.
South Africa has long been a fascinating place for fans of unique strands of electronic music. Kwaito and gqom have both become international phenomenons in recent years, but there's more weird and wonderful club music emerging from the country all the time. And with the South African Red Bull 3Style National Final taking place on December 8 at Johannesburg’s Republic Of 94 club, now is as good a time as any to explore the evolution of DJing in the country.
To get the lowdown on one of the world’s best DJ and electronic music scenes, we spoke to members of South Africa’s DJ and club world, including TeknoTribe Festival boss Nick Grater, DJ and RBMA alumni Jullian Gomes, and drum ’n’ bass hero Niskerone. Read on for a quick-fire guide to DJing in South Africa.
Go to Facebook.com/3style to watch the Red Bull 3Style South Africa National Final on December 8 from 6pm SAST / 5pm CEST.
Where it all began
The birth of DJing in South Africa is complex. The displacement caused by apartheid meant the country’s music scenes – already fragmented by the sheer size of the place – existed in isolation up until the early ’90s. International sanctions also meant that records weren’t easy to come by. But music did, by hook or by crook, trickle into the country via Europe and during the ’70s selectors would spin jazz, funk and disco. It was electro hip-hop, by Man Parrish and Mantronix, that changed everything though. Inspired by the first-wave of selectors who relied on track choices rather than DJ trickery performed on impossible-to-get first-class equipment, Cape Town’s DJ Superfly blew minds with his early electro sets, perfectly pitched and performed on improved technology. Mixtapes of his sets were shared around South Africa – and when he ushered in the raw, early sounds of house, the touch paper was lit.
South Africa's first big inspirations
International DJs have been travelling to South Africa since the end of apartheid. Hip-hop, trip-hop, techno, psy-trance – it’s all been heavily represented over the years. But house music remains king and the influence of Frankie Knuckles, Louie Vega, Sasha and Charles Webster remains huge. Other big international acts that have inspired the country’s DJs are Franck Roger, Osunlade, Victor Ruiz and Joseph Capriati. South Africa’s early drum ’n’ bass DJs were, unsurprisingly, influenced by Andy C, Roni Size and Goldie. But the sounds of the US and Europe have, more often than not, been spun into something new by South Africans developing their own styles. Kwaito, for example. It didn’t take off internationally until 2001 but DJ Oskido claims he invented it after hearing Robin S’s Show Me Love in 1990. Oskido – and his fellow Soweto DJs – took that Chicago sound, slowed it down, deepened the bass and brought rappers into the mix to create a truly South African dance music.
Oskido
© Jonathan Ferreira / Red Bull Content Pool
The country's important early clubs and DJs
Johannesburg’s Razzmatazz club can lay claim to giving kwaito and South African house music DJs an early platform, with all the major names passing through at some stage. Pretoria’s Carnalita is still talked about as the place where house DJs Vinny Da Vinci and Christos dropped their legendary early sets. For drum ’n’ bass fans, the go-to places were Cape Town’s Piano Lounge and the Homegrown nights at Mercury, which ran for over a decade. As well as DJ Superfly, Oskido, Vinny Da Vinci and Christos, the South Africans to take DJing to new places were DJ Mbuso and Harael Salkow, whose record shop and label Soul Candiwas a major launch pad for DJs and producers, plus Brothers Of Peace, G-Force and DJ realRozzano. DJs Paul Thackway and Alan Inferno flew the techno flag, while ’90s DJs Counterstrike and A33 did the same for drum ’n’ bass.
Pivotal moments in South African music
Once international sanctions were lifted in the '90s, South Africa went DJ crazy. Records flooded in and pioneers of international DJing arrived. The events that really helped drive this blossoming culture were the massive Johannesburg raves, such as the 20,000-capacity Mother Raves, which featured Carl Cox, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Sasha and John Digweed. The scene around Louis Botha Avenue in Johannesburg helped nurture the country’s homegrown underground scene, too. Stretching from the Alexander Township all the way to Hillbrow, the street was a haven for party-goers and its 206 Club helped launch the country’s drum ’n’ bass scene. Of course, it's common place for all sorts of international DJs to play in South Africa now, so the country is looking to its own stars for inspiration. Like big-name rapper Cassper Nyovest, who recently headlined Johannesburg’s massive FNB Stadium.
Carl Cox
© Mr. Mass./Red Bull Content Pool Photo
South Africa DJs play much more than house music
South African reggae duo Admiral and Jahseed have existed as a duo almost as long as South Africa has been free of apartheid. Together they’re known as the African Storm Sound System and continue to pack Newtown’s Bassline club. Hip-hop is unsurprisingly massive, too. Early on, Prophets Of Da City and DJ Ready D gave Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions a South African twist, with Ready D launching turntablism in the country. In Johnnesburg, DJ Bionic’s Eargasm label influenced young hip-hop DJs, while the city’s Le Club venue hosted future stars of the scene, like Tumi Molekane, Skwatta Kamp and Max Normal – now better known as Ninja from Die Antwoord. Since those early days, we’ve seen the development of Cape Town’s African Dope sound by DJs Fletcher and Roach, the experimental turntablism of Sibot and his compadres, and the continued evolution of that rap, house and ragga hybrid, kwaito.
The state of play in 2017
South Africa is now packed with amazing venues booking amazing DJs, including South Africa’s longest-running venue Truth and its fellow Johannesburg clubs Kitcheners, Carfax, And Club and Zone 6. And there’s no shortage of homegrown DJ talent ready to provide a thumping soundtrack. Black Coffee has been one of South Africa’s best-known DJs for the past decade or so, mixing up soulful vocals with bright African polyrhythms and jazz, but South Africa’s DJ scene is about more than just him. The number of local sub-genres performed across the country is bewildering. From Johannesburg’s kwaito scene, which has upped the tempo in recent years thanks to the sound synonymous with the city's Kalawa Jazmee label, and Durban’s own vision of that sound promoted by DJ Tira and DJ Sox’s Afrotainment, which laid the foundations for the raw, minimal, jerky style called gqom, to Limpopo’s footwork-indebted electro shangaan scene. Among the top DJs in the country right now are Limpopo’s Afro house DJ Da Capo, drum ’n’ bass spinner Niskerone, Culoe De Song, whose 2009 Bright Forest EP helped bring underground Afro house to the attention of international clubbers, Julian Gomes, Kid Fonque, and the multi-talented master of house, electro and hip-hop, Spoek Mathambo.
Black Coffee
© Jonathan Ferreira / Red Bull Content Pool
