Culolethu Zulu (born 20 August 1990 in Eshowe, Kwazulu Natal), known commonly by his stage name Culoe De Song, is a South African producer,

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

er and DJ. His first name, "Culolethu", is an IsiZulu name meaning "our song", and he is known as "Culo" or "Culoe" meaning "song"; the name is pronounced with a clicking "C", not to be erroneously pronounced like the Spanish word "culo", which rhymes with "cool". He released his first album, A Giant Leap, in 2009. In 2011, he released his album ''Elevation'' with the help of Kindnes Khupe, a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an-born tribal mix DJ. Later, he released ''Exodus'' (2013). Culoe De Song recently won The Best Male Artist for the 2014 Metro FM Awards for his album ''Exodus'', an album that was featured on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

s (South Africa) Top 500 Albums of 2013. He also participated in the 2008

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

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Early life and career

He began his music career in early 2007 DJing in South Africa alongside local acts like Black Coffee and international visitors like

Louie Vega Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and Grammy Award winner remixer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work musical production team. Biograph ...

and Rocco. Following his forays in DJing, Culoe De Song began exploring production where he collaborated with Black Coffee on the track "100 Zulu Warriors", who included the tunes tribal aural assault on his second album ''Have Another One''. Culoe De Song was later signed to Black Coffee's label Soulistic Music and was selected as one of the worldwide participants to attend the 2008

held in

. This made him one of the youngest participant in the academy's history. While in Spain, Culoe De Song performed at Club Macerana and Fellini in Barcelona and was later invited to perform at Sonar in Spain. In 2009, Culoe De Song released the EP ''The Bright Forest'' on this German record label Innervisions. This release introduced him to a wider European audience and electronic scene. Culoe De Song then started on his international showings while at the same time releasing his debut album, ''A Giant Leap'', an album that went gold. The album got him award nominations in multiple categories, for the 2010

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

, the Namibian Museke Awards, and the 2010

Metro FM Metro FM is a national radio station in South Africa owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts on FM Stereo as well as the DStv Bouquet Channel 801. Telephone : History The station started broadcasting in O ...

awards. He released his second album, ''Elevation'', in 2011, where he collaborated with France’s deep house DJ and producer Rocco as well as local South African acts, such as Goldfish and funk dub four piece

340ml 340ml (pronounced: ''three forty mil'') is an African musical group who originate from Mozambique, Maputo, but are now based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They have therefore jokingly been described by some as being "Jozambican". The band incorp ...

. The Japanese label Mule Musiq and German Label Innervisions released several singles centered on his Afrocentric rhythms and subtle digital textures. Culoe De Song continues to perform as a DJ at corporate events, clubs, and international music festivals. Notable festivals performed at include the Smirnoff Night Life Exchange worldwide tour in São Paulo, Brazil,

Amsterdam Dance Event The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is a five-day electronic music conference and festival held annually in mid-October. The event, organised by The Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, offers a full programme of daytime conferences at ADE Pro, ADE Tech ...

and the

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, SolarFest (

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), and also Weather (

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Oslo World Music Festival Oslo World Music Festival (established in 1994 by the name Verden i Norden in Oslo, Norway) is an annual festival presenting music from all over the world, with a primary focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America. History The festival started as a co ...

(

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

), Festival Week-end au bord de l’eau (

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

), and local South African festivals

Oppikoppi Oppikoppi was a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of ...

, Rocking the Daisies, and JnB Start a Party. He has performed alongside Seth Troxler, Richie Hawtin, Little Louie Vega, Carl Craig,

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Early life and career

Discography

Albums

Selected remixes

DJ mixes

Awards and nominations

References

External links