Before the sold-out tours, Drake co-signs and international festival bookings, she was simply a young creative finding her footing inside the corridors of Eswatini TV.
Long before the world knew her as Uncle Waffles, Lungelihle Zwane was part of a new generation of ambitious young entertainers in Eswatini, navigating the country’s modest but determined creative industry while dreaming beyond its borders.
Now, years after her meteoric rise changed the face of AmaPiano globally, the internationally celebrated DJ returns home for one of the continent’s most culturally significant festivals, MTN Bushfire, in what many local creatives are already calling a symbolic homecoming.
For Eswatini’s entertainment industry, her return represents far more than a booking on a festival line-up. It is the return of one of their own; a creative who once stood where many emerging artists stand today.
Before the viral clips and luxury fashion campaigns, Uncle Waffles was building media experience at Eswatini TV, where she worked as a presenter on youth entertainment programming, including Studio1, a creation by Jelele TV. At the time, she was recognised more for her on-screen personality than for music.
Colleagues from that era describe her as energetic, stylish and naturally charismatic; someone whose presence often hinted at bigger ambitions waiting to unfold. The timing would prove crucial.
As the COVID-19 pandemic slowed much of the entertainment world, Waffles found herself gravitating towards DJing. According to accounts shared in previous interviews, she began learning on decks available at her disposal, spending countless hours practising and refining her sound during lockdown periods.
It was a transition that would quietly alter the trajectory of her life. By late 2021, everything changed.
A now-famous viral video showing her dancing behind the decks while playing the Amapiano hit Adiwele exploded across social media timelines. The clip spread globally within hours, eventually drawing attention from international stars, including Drake.
Almost overnight, Uncle Waffles became one of the most talked-about DJs on the continent.
But what distinguished her from many viral sensations was her ability to sustain momentum after the internet spotlight arrived. Rather than becoming a fleeting social media moment, she transformed herself into a premium global brand.
Her rise coincided with Amapiano’s rapid international expansion, and she quickly positioned herself among the genre’s most recognisable cultural exports. Her sets became known not only for technical precision, but for performance value, high-energy choreography, crowd engagement, fashion-forward aesthetics and carefully curated sonic storytelling.
In an increasingly crowded AmaPiano landscape, Uncle Waffles created an identity audiences could instantly recognise. That identity soon opened international doors.
She moved from regional bookings to major festival stages across Europe, North America and Africa, performing alongside some of the industry’s biggest names while headlining venues many African DJs once considered unreachable. Her career evolved beyond club culture into luxury branding, fashion collaborations and global media visibility.
Today, she occupies a rare space within African entertainment both music star and cultural symbol. For many young creatives in Eswatini, her journey carries a deeply personal significance.
In a country where artists often struggle with limited infrastructure, funding constraints and industry exposure, Uncle Waffles’ success story has become proof that global entertainment careers can emerge from local beginnings.
*Full article available on Pressreader*
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