Lwazi Asanda Gwala, better known as DJ Lag is a South African DJ and record producer. He is regarded as the pioneer of

Gqom Gqom () '(Igqomu) () is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 2010s from Durban, South Africa, pioneered largely by producer DJ Nathan_Medee, DJ Lag, Rudeboyz, Griffit Vigo, Mbreshcar SA and Citizen Boy. It was developed fr ...

, a genre of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 2010s in

Durban, South Africa Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. In 2019, DJ Lag notably collaborated with

Tierra Whack Tierra Helena Whack (born August 11, 1995) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She originally performed as "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager, but later on reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut studio album, ''Whack World'', was releas ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Moonchild Sanelly Sanelisiwe Twisha (born 1987), known professionally as Moonchild Sanelly is a South African musician and dancer. She is known for her signature blue-coloured hair and her self-created music genre called "Future ghetto punk". Originally from P ...

, Nija,

Yemi Alade Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), is a Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist. She won the ''Peak Talent Show'' in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single " Johnny" in 2014. ...

, and

Busiswa Busiswa Gqulu (born 8 November 1988), known mononymously as Busiswa or Busi, is a South African singer-songwriter and poet. Born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa, she gained public recognition for her feature on DJ Zinhle's song, "My Na ...

on a track called "My Power" on

's album, '' The Lion King: The Gift''.

Early life

With aspirations of becoming a soccer player growing up in Durban, Lag suffered an ankle injury which derailed his pursuits. His cousin, a rapper within the Durban hip hop scene at the time, then introduced him to FL Studio, on which he taught himself to produce. Following this, he began to explore DJing. He went on to play his first gig at Durban's club Uhuru during a high school graduation event while he was in 10th grade. Lwazi Asanda Gwala finished his Matric at

Wyebank Secondary School Wyebank is a settlement located 27 km north-west of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality which is the greater Durban metropolitan area. It is surrounded by Ngqungqulu in the north, ...

located in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the

Wyebank Wyebank is a settlement located 27 km north-west of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality which is the greater Durban metropolitan area. It is surrounded by Ngqungqulu in the north, K ...

area.

Career

Releasing his first EP on Whatsapp, DJ Lag began his career using methods unorthodox to Western distribution methods common in Gqom's formative years. Fans signed up on the DJ's website with the promise that an exclusive EP would be delivered to them via the mobile messaging app free of charge, with the help of Black Major, an artist management agency based in Cape Town. DJ Lag's specific style is known to be focused on what local producers dubbed "uthayela" (an

isiZulu Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...

word for "corrugated iron" which describes the rough timbre and hard bass-lines specifically made for listening to in club settings. Music connoisseurs who were pivotal in influencing the genre's international acclaim included the likes of South African rapper

Okmalumkoolkat Smiso Zwane (born Smiso Brian Mkhasibe; 27 July 1983), commonly known by his stage name Okmalumkoolkat (sometimes stylized as OkMalumKoolKat) is a South African rapper and half of the rap/electronic duo Dirty Paraffin from Umlazi Township in Dur ...

, Italian record label Gqom Oh owner, Malumz Kole inclusive of music taste-maker and public relations liaison, Cherish Lala Mankai,

DJ Tira Mthokozisi Khathi (born August 24, 1976), professionally known by his stage name DJ Tira, is a South African DJ, record producer and Kwaito artist. He helped popularize the Gqom music genre. Khathi won the Smirnoff SA DJ Knockout competit ...

and

Babes Wodumo Bongekile Mildred Simelane (born March 25, 1994), better known as Babes Wodumo is a South African gqom artist and choreographer. She rose to fame following the release of her breakthrough song "Wololo", in 2016. The song later appeared on her d ...

. In late 2016 at the age of 21, DJ Lag made his live global debut at the Unsound Festival in Poland and finishing up at Seoul's Cake Shop nearly a month later. Since then, he's performed at Afropunk New York City and secured a residency at RinseFM. He also embarked on a four-part worldwide tour called #GqomIsThePresent and was featured on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, including shows by

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

and

Benji B Benjamin Benstead, known professionally as Benji B, is a British DJ, radio presenter, and record producer. A longtime BBC Radio producer and presenter, he has presented a weekly show on BBC Radio 1 since 2010 that highlights an eclectic mix of h ...

, with
BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
set hosted by

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

. DJ Lag was a featured speaker at the 2019 Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). In 2019, he released a 6 track EP entitled UHURU under

's American record label, Good Enuff Records, under the

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. Recently, it has popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music created by D ...

umbrella. This album paid homage to DJ Lag's hometown club of the same name, which acted as a monumental meeting place for Gqom producers such as Rudeboyz and Naked Boyz, to try out new techniques on larger audiences. In 2019, DJ Lag began to curate and host his own event, called ''Something For Clermont'' where new acts are encouraged to experiment with sounds contributing to the evolution of the genre, the first of which was held in partnership with music broadcaster Boiler Room.

Collaborations

My Power from Beyonce's The Lion King: The Gift

DJ Lag co-produced a track that was initially released as ''Drumming'' alongside percussionist Moses Boyd, which was later chosen by Beyonce to form part of the collaborative album, The Lion King: The Gift, which featured American rapper

and

Anywhere We Go with Shekhinah

DJ Lag and

Shekhinah Shekhinah, also spelled Shechinah ( Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה ''Šəḵīnā'', Tiberian: ''Šăḵīnā'') is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God, as it were, in a pla ...

collaborated on ''Anywhere We Go'
as part of an adidas campaign.
The accompanying visuals feature dancer Thami Njoko, and was directed by music video director Kyle Lewis.

Going Modd with Epic B

DJ Lag worked with New Yor
Flex Dance Music
pionee
Epic B
on the track ''Going Modd'' on UK labe
Swing Ting.

Switz Music Video with Choreographer Mette Towley

Mette Towley, who also appeared in the music video for

N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Recor ...

. and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's ''Lemon'', approached DJ Lag to work on Switz in 2019. Shot and directed in New York by Bon Duke, Towley's interpretation of the track is "her response to the feeling that dance, and its ability to act as a mode of communication, needed a serious revisit." Dancers included Orlando Zane, Hunter Jr., Emily Paige, Frankie Gordils “Francoth3artist”, Rudy Legros, Shari Clarke, Ros Hayes, Leal Zielinksa, Ekow Nunoo, Brown Kato, Watz Hunter and Valentine Nicholi White.

Steam Rooms with Okzharp

''Steam'' ''Rooms'', which takes its name from the local nickname for dance clubs in Durban, features South African rhythms with a blend of UK club styles brought on by producer

Okzharp Gervase Gordon better known as, OKZharp is a South African music producer and DJ. Early life and career Alongside his previous partners in the UK-based trio, LV, he also helped produce the single "Boomslang" which featured rapper Okmalumkoolkat ...

, creating a musical dialogue between the two regions' styles.

Selected discography

EPs and singles

* 2016: ''DJ Lag'' 12" EP (Goon Club Allstars) * 2016: ''Ice Drop'' EP (Goon Club Allstars) * 2017: ''Trip to New York'' (Black Major) – originally via Whatsapp * 2018: ''Jika'' single with DJ Vumar and Biggie (Ice Drop Records) * 2018: ''3 Step Culo'' single (Goon Club Allstars) * 2018: ''Stampit'' 12" EP (Goon Club Allstars) * 2018: ''Going Modd'' ft Epic B (Swing Ting Records) * 2019: ''Nyusa'' single with Okzharp (Hyperdub) * 2019: ''Steam Rooms'' with Okzharp 12" EP (Hyperdub) * 2019: ''Uhuru'' EP (Good Enuff) * 2019: ''Anywhere We Go'' single with

(Parametric Records)

Collaborations

* 2018: ''The Originators'' by various artists limited edition vinyl 12" split – "Daisies" by DJ Lag (Gqom Oh!) * 2019: ''WKC012'' by Dmtrs We Flaco limited edition 7" single – "Imaginery Drumming" by Heviweit and DJ Lag (self-released) * 2019: '' The Lion King: The Gift'' by

– "My Power" by

, Nija, DJ Lag,

(Parkwood Entertainment LLC, Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment)

Remixes

* 2018: "Down Low – DJ Lag Remix Extended, Weird Together feat. Moonchild Sanelly"

References

External links

DJ Lag
at Black Major – South Africa
DJ Lag
at On The Sly – North and South America * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lag, DJ Mad Decent artists South African musicians People from Durban Living people Hyperdub artists Year of birth missing (living people)