NEWS
EVENTS
DJ Lag and the gqom revolution: South Africa gets a new sound
South Africa has been put on the musical map before by Zefstars Die Antwoord, but now DJ Lag can be seen starting to seep into the global dance music scene, it’s clear that South Africa has a strong, unique musical legacy, and one which reaches deeper into clubland than outsiders of the scene expected.
Rudeboyz and Menchess released an EPcalled Rudeboyz on Goon Club Allstars last year, which was many listeners’ first experience of gqom. The EP’s massive hit ‘Get Down’ is a gqom anthem destined for greatness in underground bass, house and hip hop DJ sets.
DJ Lag is leading the gqom revolution. Gqom is a style of music which originates from coastal city in eastern South Africa, Durban, and is a syncopated, boundary-pushing variation of the South African house sound. The word roughly translates to ‘drum’ in Zulu. Lag, real name Lwazi Asanda Gwala, has a dark, trap-influenced sound with heavy beats and echoing samples.
On November 7, the Goon Club Alltars label will release Lag’s debut EP. The self-titled EP contains four tracks of definitive gqom, and goes along with DJ Lag’s European and Asian tour. This is unsurprising, as Lag helped define the genre from its beginnings, being one of the first artists to popularise the term.
The tracklist of the EP is below.
Tracklist
01. Ghost On The Loose
02. 16th Step
03. Ice Drop
04. Umilio
Catch the 'Godfather, Inventor and King of Gqom' and king of modesty on Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud.
