East London house DJ Zwesta’s new house track Rafiki, which was released last month, is already receiving major airplay.
The track features Germany-based songstress Nkwali and is sung in both Swahili and IsiZulu. DJ Zwesta says he has been able to reach a larger crowd with his song playing in other African countries such as Kenya and Burundi.
“Rafiki is doing really well. In the first week of its release, it already had 4,600 views on YouTube. Last week alone it played on Channel O four times and people have been sharing the video a lot on Facebook.
“What is amazing is that we did not do a lot of promotion but our fans did it for us through liking and sharing the video on social media platforms.”
DJ Zwesta shares that after a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two of his friends and colleagues in 2011, he stopped music to heal from the physical and emotional wounds that came from losing his friends and colleagues.
“I started my music whilst a student at Fort Hare in 2008 where I used to deejay at Corner Pocket with the late deejay West and deejay Limnandi.
“I moved to Pretoria in 2009 and Johannesburg in 2010 where I used to deejay between the two places. In 2011, I moved to Mthatha to work for Flatfoot Records. I was supposed to produce a single for them but I was involved in a deadly accident that killed Mzobhana, one of the talented artists from Mdantsane, and deejay Msethi from Mthatha. I was the only survivor of the accident,” he explained.
Zwesta, a BCom accounting graduate, stopped music after the crash to focus on his recovery and work.
“I only returned to music early this year when I dropped my first single called ‘We Rise’ where I worked with Yasirah BhElz of the famous ‘Noqatiko’ song and Mnce from Mdantsane.”
DJ Zwesta says he is looking to drop an album in 2019. He believes that he has made a name for himself and this would be the right time for him to produce an album.
“I find it as a big achievement to have my music play on one of the biggest music channels, more especially that I am a new artist.”
Rafiki is available for download on all digital platforms and the video is out on YouTube...