South Africa has always been a hotbed of music. Kwaito and House soundtracked the country’s dancefloors at the end of the Y2K era, and at the turn of the decade, Gqom and Amapiano cast a global spotlight on its pervasive dance scene. 

In contemporary times,  3-step is edging its way as the country’s latest dance brainchild and DJ Lag – one of the most defining Gqom voices — is quick to differentiate between the genres when we hop on a Zoom call “I think Amapiano and Gqom really use the same sounds. Gqom is like stripped back Amapiano, and the 3-step I can say is Afro-tech but changed into broken beats”, he explains.

Raised in Durban on Kwaito influences, DJ Lag – Lwazi Gwala – was influenced by his rapper cousin to get into music production.  After a short stint messing with Hip-Hop, DJ Lag leaned into his native Kwaito influences and narrowed into tribal house beats, eventually leading him up the alley of Gqom.

Since his ascendance, DJ Lag has emerged as perhaps the most prominent vanguard of the genre, playing festivals globally and pushing the local soundscape with a consistent flush of pulsating music. His latest offering, Rebellion, just arrived weeks ago, but DJ Lag isn’t letting up “I am thinking of dropping an EP in November or December. I can say Hade Boss made me want to make another project.” His thirteen-track sophomore, Rebellion, released in June was filled with party-rocking anthems like Yebo, Hade Boss and Kwenzakalan “Rebellion is an album I started last year, but Hade Boss, I did that in December and the reception was crazy. So I am just focused on that style, it’s a mixture of Amapiano and Gqom.” 

In an era where partygoers are returning to dance floors  & sound systems and parting ways with luxurious discotheques, Gqom is leading the charge as one of dance’s foremost genres, and DJ Lag is at the heart of this renaissance. “Novaboy, K.C. Driller who does Amapiano, Da Man who does Gqom, Dezzodigo are definitely people you should look out for”, he says before citing Mnike by Tyler I.C.U as the one song he would play if he had a single shot at putting people onto contemporary South African music. “It’s a classic. It tells you this is South Africa. There’s Gqom in there, there is Amapiano and it was like a remix of a classic song.”

As a DJ, crowd control is at the core of his artistry, and DJ Lag ensures the audience always gets a topnotch experience by watching the set of whichever DJ plays before him. It’s a practice he has held dear since his come-up days in Clermont, Durban till now as he tours global stages heralding the gospel of Gqom. For someone who has played countless sets across the world, I ponder what feeling DJ Lag seeks when he commandeers the turntable “Happiness, man. I just want to see people dancing to my music, that’s it.”

As someone who always sets the mood and gets the party going, we had DJ Lag curate a special playlist of songs that get him going. 

Listen here.