DJ Mo-Laudi
South African DJ Mo-Laudi shares his thoughts on South African music and presents his current top 3 dancefloor fillers.
DJ Mo-Laudi was born as Molaudi Bopape in a small town in Polokwane, South Africa, and has been living in London since 2000. He has been djing for over 10 years, specializing in Kwaito, Hip-Hop, Dancehall and House music. Having been a dj for South London based station Radio SA before, he now concentrates on djing in clubs and at events.
Mo-Laudi is also the lead singer/rapper of London-based band Weapons (described by the Daily Telegraph as “the Pixies meets Cyprus Hill”) with whom he has toured the US and UK and has released three singles and one album. In addition to this, Mo-Laudi is a promoter, a poet, co-owner of the label Wicked Old Lady, a freelance journalist (he used to write for SA Times) and a former nightclub manager (The Blunt in South Africa).
Here he shares with us his thoughts on what’s happened in South African music this year, and you can check out his current top 3 dancefloor fillers as well as upcoming events below:
2007 has been a great year so far – I have been promoting, djing and opening for a whole range of musicians, like Roy Ayers, Miriam Makeba, Oskido, Christos, DJ Sbu, Nuru Kane, Zenzi (Miriam Makeba's granddaughter) and Simphiwe Dana, at places like Café de Paris, Cargo, the ICA as well as Trafalgar Square and Hanover Square.
I was immensely impressed by Simphiwe Dana (who performed at the ICA on 28 May 2007 as part of this year’s London African Music Festival. She has an amazing vocal control; she blends in the gentle, jazzy harmonies and the violent screams intertwining them together to weave an ancient understanding of pain. It’s fascinating to see a musician so young but yet so mature. When I spoke to her she sounded relaxed and I believe that she will soon have the world at her feet.
Simphiwe Dana is grounded and at peace with herself - unlike the man at the fore-front of the kwaito movement,
Kabelo
of the legendary but now defunct TKZee. Kabelo sounded tense, more anxious and a bit aggressive, almost as if he is trying to prove a point which I understand because although he is at the top of his game, he still feels undermined by people who don’t take kwaito seriously – of which there are a lot of in South Africa, less now than in the past, but I guess it’s a bit like hip-hop when it started.
When I initially approached Kabelo at a welcoming party which South African promoters Bongs and Lekay organized at Baba T, I asked him “Can I speak to you for a sec?” and he replied “Nah Jo! Ska nthaida!” (meaning: “Not now! I need my space!”). But I did not allow that. I wanted to speak to this guy I bought CDs of while I was in high school. I told him what I do and gave him a CD of my band and somehow his attitude switched. He spoke of how he stopped drinking and found God. He said: “See, I love kwaito, I love the way the words fit between the kick drums and the snare.” I said to him that that’s nice when you understand the language but what happens when you don’t, to which he responded: “My core market is ghetto, I’ll never forget where I’m from and without all my fans I would not be here. And if kwaito comes out in English it should be natural, I would not force it, because right now I’m at the forefront of this dynamic culture and I’m not complaining.” I saw his gig the next day, on 12 May 2007 at the Stratford Rex and I must say I was impressed. His attitude, energy and delivery the way he was able to carry the show one man without gimmick without a band.
A couple of weeks later, on 28 May 2007, I was djing at Trafalgar Square for the Africa Day celebrations. It was amazing to be playing music before Miriam Makeba steps on stage, and even though it was a very wet day (and I was using only one deck) the crowd was happily dancing in the rain with their umbrellas bouncing around. The atmosphere was great until I played one of Kabelo’s songs and the MC on stage kept on interrupting the song saying “Can we have real African music? Please! We are Africans. Mr. DJ, put on REAL African music!” I realized there is a huge gap in Southern African music and the rest of Africa and also the older, traditional generation and the younger, more modern generation.
It was also a fantastic honour to be part of Africa Beyond’s
Word from Africa
series. I dj’d and compered an event on 6 June 2007 at Q Bar & Grill in Kilburn. The vibe was brilliant and London-based South African singer/ poet Leeto dropped a wicked performance. Word from Africa was great as it brought together different races and generations, and I was particularly happy that young Africans from different countries were checking out this scene.
There is still a long way to go but step by step we are getting there.
DJ Mo-Laudi’s current top 3 dancefloor fillers (October 2007) :
1. DJ Bongz – ‘Thina Sobabili’
This is a refreshing, light and uplifting summer song which almost always guarantees a packed dancefloor, and also I get lots of requests from people that don’t know it asking me who it’s by.
2. K’naan – ‘Soobax’
I have seen him perform at the 2007 RISE festival and I was blown away by his passion, energy and the consciousness of his lyrics and this track perfectly captures those three elements.
3. DJ Sbu – ‘Remember when it rained’
This is the South African Music Awards ‘Song of the Year’ and it has sold 500,000 copies in SA. The lyrics are from Josh Groban, the hard-working DJ also known as the Kwaito artist Mzekezeke.
Catch DJ Mo-Laudi at the following events :
Friday, 26 October 2007 , 6pm-6am: Mandela Statute Unveiling Party @ Club SA, 22 Ashwin Street (just off Kingsland Road), London E8 3DL. DJ Mo-Laudi and other South African DJs spinning classics and the latest hits from SA, plus live performances. Admission: £10.
Every Thursday , 8pm -2am: Global Grooves @ Zensai (www.zensaibar.com ), 16 Inverness Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7HJ. DJs Mo-Laudi and Eric Soul spinning Afrobeat, Kwaito, Kizomba, Hip-Hop, Reggaeton and more. Free admission.
Every Friday , 7pm-1am: Deep N Soulful @ Lounge 34 (www.lounge34.co.uk ), 34 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RG. DJ Mo-Laudi plus guest DJs spinning South African beats’n’breaks and deep Afro Latin House. Free admission.
Every Sunday , 6pm-2am: Afro Soul @ Miura Bar and Kitchen, 54 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8QZ. DJs Mo-Laudi, Lloyd and Big Mike spinning Afro pop, kwaito, Naija groove, hip-hop and R’n’b. Free admission.