Publications
Partners
“There can be no party without hip-hop these days,” says legendary house music deejay and producer Frederick “DJ Ganyani” Tshabalala, who celebrated his 49th birthday with a big party on Sunday at Rubycon, the former Sedibeng Pub in Meadowlands in Soweto.
The laser lights, tight sound and big screen display set the right mood as revellers danced until the early hours of Monday morning despite the heavy rain.
But for the first time Ganyani’s peers like DJ Christos and Oskido were not on the line-up, leaving hip-hop artists like Kwesta and Okmalumkoolkat to headline Meadowland’s popular annual celebration.
It was up to Vinny da Vinci, Vetkuk vs Mahoota, De Mogul SA and Heavy K to represent the house heads, while comedian Mashabela Galane spiced up the event with jokes about Ganyani’s well-endowed and horse-hung homeboys from Limpopo.
At least two deejays flew in from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, respectively, to come celebrate with Ganyani, also highlighting his appeal beyond South Africa’s borders.
Ganyani says: “There is no doubt that hip hop is doing very well in the country and we are getting a lot of competition from them. House has dominated for a long time and we have to give hip-hop credit where it is due. What is nice about it is that we support each other.”
“The same guys that I invited to support me I also support them in return and there is a mutual understanding. For me as DJ Ganyani I see no party without hip-hop, so we also need to support them as house legends. Whether we like it or not, we need to strike the balance because we are serving a broader market now.”
But hosting the event in his backyard also had its shortcomings because every second person at the entrance knew him and some tried to get on the guest list.
“As Africans we should learn to appreciate the good things that some of us are doing. There are costs that we incur to have that kind of event and we would also like to recoup whatever we spend to organise the event.”
He turned 49 on January 19, which also marked 34 years since he started learning how to deejay. Last year he released the 10th edition of his Ganyani House Grooves compilation album.
Under Ganyani Entertainment, he has taken De Mogul SA under his wing and by June the Mafikeng-born hitmaker is expected to have a total of three hot singles out in the market.
In September Ganyani plans to release the Eyadini Experience to coincide with the upmarket Durban lounge’s annual birthday celebration.
His next challenge, says Ganyani, is to sign vocalists, a move that he has deliberately avoided because he felt he was not ready. “But now the time is right.”
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
