Concert
House Nation South Africa
Compiled by Daniel Best
With Liquideep (ZA), 2Lani (ZA), Jullian Gomes (ZA) and DJs Andreé Lodemann (D) feat. The Lazarusman (ZA)
It’s a long way from Chicago to Cape Town, but House music actually has a long tradition in South Africa. By the late 1980s, tracks by DJ Pierre, Larry Heard and (above all) Frankie Knuckles were part and parcel of the soundtrack to the Township speakeasies and played an important role in resistance to the Apartheid regime. A slowed-down adaptation became a national musical specialty going by the name of “Kwaito”. Today, House is the dominant youth culture throughout the region, with countless producers, MCs and DJs. Daniel Best, whose work as a DJ and label owner (Best Seven) has been connecting Reggae and Lounge for years, presents the latest stage of this development, which is barely known in Europe and the US.
Liquideep With their hit “Fairytale” and the album “Fabric of the Heart” (2010), Liquideep, comprising the singer and producer Ziyon and the DJ and producer Ryzor, achieved gold status, numerous nominations for awards and sponsorship contracts. Despite their calculated “sick” look, their music is warm, melodic and irresistibly deep.
/www.liquideep.com Soundcloud Youtube
2Lani 2Lani has been active on the scene for 15 years. He has spun discs in all the major clubs from Cape Town to Durban, he was involved in setting up Retro Music, a mixture of record shop, studio and DJ school and he worked as an A&R man and promoter before founding his own label, “Do It Now”, in 2010. One of the originals from the scene with a weakness for sweet sounds.
Jullian Gomes After his first successes with the independent labels Soulcandi and House Afrika, this young DJ and producer quickly moved on to the international stage. Following a “Studio residence” at the Red Bull DJ Academy in London in 2010, he has released music on Realtone, Foliage, Atjazz and Deepershades. And with G Family, his joint project with his cousin, he remains a fixture in the South African charts.
DJ André Lodemann & The Lazarusman One of the most fascinating voices on the South African House scene belongs to Lazarus Mathebula, a successful slam poet who reinvented himself in 2009 as The Lazarusman and promptly stormed the House charts with the producer Stimming. His partner at the decks is André Lodemann, a partner in Daniel Best’s label with over twenty years of expertise in matters of deepness.
