True Music 10, South Africa: A Night Of Pure Sonic Bliss

As a warm, starry night settled above Johannesburg’s 1FOX venue for Ballantine’s x Boiler Room’s True Music 10 event, a concert-worthy line slithered from the security entrance out onto the street. Streaks of partygoers lay in wait for doors to open to the hotspot, which was enveloped by moviesque lighting of blue and red tones. Dissected into a street strip leading to three different stages and blocks of the venue, the night would star over 30 different artists and collectives, host pop-ups for food, souvenirs, and break-out spaces for attendees to relax in.

“True Music is quintessential to DJ culture,” says DBN Gogo, one of the many AllStar stage performers of the night. “It is where people come to discover sound, in a room where you don’t need to know anyone. You’re in a safe space; nobody is going to bother you. The worst that can happen is it might get a little crowded, and people are a little bit on top of each other, but together, Ballantine’s and Boiler Room have created such a safe space that you can come and truly be yourself.” The DJ/artist epitomises the culture of South Africa’s evolving music scene, one where shooting stars seemingly appear overnight. But for GBN Gogo, and many others, that is far from the case: these acts have been grinding for a number of years to get to this point.

Famed for its adoration of music, Boiler Room sets have become an aspiration for many—to either perform at or attend. Its notable performer-facing sets, entranced crowd-capturing cinematography, and aim to generate memorable events have cemented its place within a worldwide music culture. “There’s no experience like a Boiler Room set,” adds DBN Gogo. “Anywhere you see the format of a camera facing the decks, with the crowd behind, that’s an authentic Boiler Room setup and experience.” That passion for invigorating musical spaces and the scenes they derive from has been Boiler Room’s philosophy since its conception in 2010, evolving from a home base in London to events in Amsterdam, New York, Berlin, Lisbon and eventually over 100 cities worldwide. Ten years ago, Boiler Room and Ballantine’s linked up to invest in similar phenomena around the world; thus, True Music was born, representing musical communities across the globe, their people, and investing within them to ensure that they thrive.

Donning a blue hue, the Allstars stage, featuring artists from its previous True Music shows—such as DBN Gogo, Tyler ICU, Shimza, Scorpion Kings and Masters At Work—had the audience in awe with a spread of legendary tracks. Dressed in sultry red and orange tones, the Forward stage encompassed newer acts bolstering their own scenes, like Johburg’s own DJ Char, London’s Shannen SP, Amsterdam’s FS Green, Kanana Townships’ Maglera Doe Boy, Lagos’ Seyi Vibez and São Paulo’s BADSISTA, incorporating a global network of sounds including Afrobeats, hip-hop, grime, electronica, techno, Baile funk and more. Meanwhile, the hard-hitting Spotlight stage gathered South African talent epitomising the scene today, featuring the likes of River Moon, Phatstoki, Dlala Thukzin and Omagoqa, as they toyed with the genres of Afrotech, Afro-house, Gqom, Bacardi and star of the show: Amapiano.

The temperament to have so many personalities and expectations to cater to, any programmer would be overwhelmed to curate such an event. And yet the South African artists revelled in it, shedding the same infectious vibes captured in their virality, such as the famed Uncle Waffles dancing behind the decks, the endless dance challenges—like with DBN’s own platinum hit, “Khuza Gogo”—and even the memeification of some songs, à la the recent body jiggling “Tshwala Bam” dance. “I really don’t take for granted what I do and how South Africans are the movers, shakers and tastemakers of the industry right now,” DBN tells me when asked about the current state of this buzzing scene.

“Everyone’s looking at us, for the next song, the next beat, the next bass drop, the next lockdrum. You would never have thought our beautiful little country at the edge of Africa would be doing something so big.” Amapiano has led the recent wave of South African sounds that have gripped the dancing soul of the wider world, establishing and differentiating itself in a period of time where Afrobeats has become one of the greatest genres in the world. With artists like Tyla, Uncle Waffles, Tyler ICU, DBN Gogo and Scorpion Kings leading the way and many more staking their claim, their musical culture is shining through like never before. “It’s basically the second time that an African genre has come up in such a way since Afrobeats,” says DBN. “I think we’re all living in dream world right now.”

The people of South Africa are creating a space for themselves while combating a state afflicted by the aftermath of COVID, utilising the resources they have available to them and inspiring a hasty evolution. Lockdown in South Africa led to the closure of many venues across a spread of industries as help from the state failed to sustain them through the difficult period. Venues like Kitcheners—a queer-friendly, women safe bar—theatres, creative hubs, restaurants and even hotels have closed down on the backend of COVID. Despite this, South African artists ensured to stay creative, even with minimal resources. “We are so used to being able to provide for ourselves, making people dance week in week out, getting by and being able to put food on the table at home,” says Miss Gogo, “but now, being able to travel to places you’ve never been to, acknowledging people are hearing your music in places you’ve never heard of, we really had no idea how big it is and how much bigger it is going to be.”

Chiming in just moments before his epic b2b set with DBN Gogo, Tyler ICU says: “For the culture, for us—South Africans—it is a moment to be celebrated.” The DJ/producer’s viral hit, “Mnike”, is currently an ever-present in Amapiano sets and, on the night, he displayed his mastery with the song, showing how well it worked with the other bangers in his set. “‘Mnike’ was made out of happiness,” Tyler says. “It even sounds happy. We did the beat the first day and recorded the vocals on another day. The beat was actually quite quick to make. I had a gig during the making of it and I played the instrumental—it only had the ‘Hayi ke, hayi ke, hayi ke’—but I saw people going crazy for it. I was like: ‘Okay! I think there’s something here. But there was a pocket I needed to find. Then I thought, ‘Let me call Tumelo to fiddle with some vocals.’ It took him some time to get into the tune, but when he finally got the hang of it, it was amazing from there. We played it like seven times in the studio and all of us were like, ‘This one is crazy! Okay, what are we doing? Let’s put it on TikTok,’ and TikTok just took over.”

This is a story many of these artists can identify with. TikTok has served as a great promoter for the Amapiano movement, giving South African talent the platform to blow beyond their towns, which was a necessity throughout and on the back-end of lockdown. There’s real importance to these successes and moments in SA, raising their culture to a point of global prominence. Acknowledging the linenage, Tyler ICU explained that, “Because these sounds, like kwela, mbaqanga and marabi, all started from the Townships, for them to now be globally recognised—as well as having events like True Music, with a specific stage to celebrate them on—it’s just a great moment to see and to be a part of.”

In all, True Music 10 acted as a beacon for the beauty of the South African scene right now. It’s a night that will go down in history, like many other Boiler Room sets, acting as a point of reflection for a community on its surgency. It captured the tremendous expanse of its music culture and highlighted the interconnectivity of the creatives that intertwined on the night. Not only the artists, but the media, creative agencies, PR companies and sponsors aligned and invested in the success of this bright and downright beautiful scene.

“The ecosystem is powerful right now,” DBN Gogo tells me after her set. “The music, the dances, the people who create content around it, the DJs, vocalists, strategists, organisers… I have never seen anything like this. It’s like we all move in sync—it’s crazy! It’s such a beautiful time to be Black, to be African, and to just be a part of this creative, musical ecosystem.”

For more on True Music 10, head here.