Lengends of the DJ Box

Some of them are still deejaying and also grooming our young deejays so no one can doubt that they have contributed a lot in taking our fun scene to where it is today.

GCWALA had a chat with some of the legends of the DJ box and this is what they had to say:

DJ Xtra

The deejaying industry in the country has grown even more than the music industry.

What has changed is that people understand the industry better now compared to our time. Now you can put up a charge and some people are willing to pay for what you offer yet back then people just never understood the whole deejaying concept.

At this point I think it is up to that individual spinner to profes-sionalise his craft. There are good DJs coming up but they do not want to be professional, but it is up to that individual.

Strive for professionalism and another thing is that if one within the industry is not professional in terms of brand qualities, the whole industry becomes affected.

I am doing more corporal events and my focus is on providing sound systems, stage, and lights for events. However, I am still actively behind the DJ box. I have my guys who do most of the deejaying during our shows and that makes me keep behind the scene but if it’s a big event I take it by the horns and when Im hired my services are 110 per cent satisfaction guaranteed. Besides events I also do graphic designing and printing as I run an office during the week.

DJ Di Dang

I think a lot needs to be done in terms of diversifying the kind of music most spinners tend to pay much attention to.

To be honest, nothing much has changed really.

Most of the entertainers focus on one specific kind of music. There is no diversity in terms of mixing the various music genres to accommodate all fun lovers. It’s like they are doing the same thing. In short there is lack of creativity.

Being a DJ is not something you can make a living out of. You can get a gig today but that does not guarantee that you will get another tomorrow. So my advice would be to say people must take their education seriously, go to school, score good grades and get a professional career. Being a DJ is something one can do as a part time thing.

I’m still very much active behind the decks but I now focus on corporate events. Actually, I have grown and this is to say I hardly do club entertainment. For that reason you may find that my shows are mid- week, for example, Thursday and a few people will know about it since its corporate.

DJ DD Cool

As I grow older and travel more I know that our country desperately lacks in ‘fun’, which as a result affects our tourism industry and gross domestic growth. The only fun in abundance are DJ events in clubs and pubs scattered all over the country for house and hip hop lovers. In other countries there are amusement parks, various nightclubs that cater for various ages and music genres.

We still have only four calendar events in Swaziland (as a country we still need more) these being MTN Bushfire, Simunye Fun Fair, The Trade Fair, and the New Year’s Eve/Cross-over parties. There are less creative thinkers in the industry and more backbiting (mainly between DJs). Back in the 90s there was Xtra Luv reigning supreme at the Why Not Disco. Zakes Mthembu was the club and mobile DJ of note in the early 90s and Mfundo Baby B and Makhosi Khoza soothed on the airwaves at SBIS. DJ Snoop revolutionalised the club and mobile DJ scene in the mid 90s to around 2003. House on Fire has taken over where the Why Not left and has been our biggest tourists’ choice of fun since the early 2000s to present day.

There is lack of creativity among most promoters who think fun has to be in the form of a DJ event. There is also the much bigger problem of our newspapers focusing on events with SA talent and overlooking 100 per cent shows. In terms of live performances Swazis have improved and are of International standard but there is still room for improvement especially with a lot of DJs sounding the same and failing to grow their brands.

Less than 10 per cent of aspiring DJs will make it past the aspiring DJ stage in Swaziland. So my advice is always education first, full time job second, then the DJ passion third. In the meantime practice, practice, and more practice during your spare time and when you do go all out identify your unique selling points (USP) and if you can, get a manager as early as possible in your DJ career.

Events Management. I registered my events management company, E-YE! Events (Pty) Ltd, on February 1, 2012 which primarily will focus on wedding management. Everything from sound, lights, stage, screens 7 projectors, catering, customised invitation cards, cakes, decorations, and everything associated with weddings under one roof.

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