Khaka Yena, known commonly by his stage name Gaba Cannal, is a South African music producer and DJ. His music production is known for his

soulful house A : Emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines instead of lyrics. It has core electronic "squelch" sounds that were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experi ...

take on Amapiano. His name "Gaba Cannal" when roughly translated into Portuguese, means "Let It Be".

Early life and education

Gaba Cannal was born in Daveyton, Gauteng but he later moved to the east of Johannesburg, where he completed his schooling and ventured into music production. He Studied at Siyalakha Christian School then later moved to the east of Johannesburg were he grew up and finished matric in Fumana High School.

Career

He started producing music at the age of eighteen and started out his music career as a hip hop producer and a pianist. In 2014, he released his EP titled, ''Abundance'' which opened ways for him in the industry and in that same year he created his own independent record label, Gaba Cannal Music Pty-Ltd. In 2018, he was featured on the single ''Magic'' by Da Kruk, which was nominated in the 2018 South African Music Awards, for Best Underground Record of the Year. In 2020, he collaborated with South African singer, Busiswa on his single ''Umhlaba Wonke''. That same year he released his album, ''Amapiano Legacy''. In August 2020, his single ''Hold On'' ranked No. 10 on Good Hope FM's SA House Music Top 10 Chart. He has performed on stages alongside local musicians such as

Vinny Da Vinci Vinny or Vinnie is a masculine given name, usually a shortened version of Vincent, Vincenzo, or Vicente, which may refer to: Vincents * Vinnie Anderson (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league footballer * Vinny Appice (born 1957), American rock dru ...

, DJ Ganyani, Nastee Nev,

DJ Clock Kholile Elvin Gumede, (born 16 May 1988), better known as DJ Clock, is a South African DJ and record producer. Career 2007-2010: ''The First Tick'' (2008), ''The Second Tick'' (2009) His first album ''The First Tick'' was released on January ...

, LinQ, MFR Souls, Giggs Superstar, KoJo Akusa,Mzee,Julian Gomes, Javaman, The Brawl, Noxolo, Mobi Dixon, Jenerik Soul, Tim White, DJ Christos, Tokzen Mthi and DJ Terrance, as well as international acts such as Ralf GUM, Andy Campton and Nick Holder and also toured in countries such as

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

. On 25 November 2020, he revealed the release date for his upcoming album ''Statement'' and the official cover art for the project.

Awards and nominations

Discography

*Abundance EP (2014) * Between Emotions EP (2018) *Injabulo EP (2018) *Suit And Tie II EP (2019) * Amapiano Love Affair (2020) *Amapiano Legacy (2020) *Suit & Tie Episode III EP (2020) *Great I Am (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cannal, Gaba Living people People from Daveyton Amapiano musicians South African musicians South African DJs People from Johannesburg Year of birth missing (living people)