1/15/09

REVIEW

I'm in love with a DJ


There are a few DJs whose work behind the mixing board and the decks have put Mpumalanga on the map. The most notable pioneer being DJ Sdunkero whose feat not only catapulted this province to heights never experienced since Stimela’s Ray Phiri but also sparked envy and jealousy from his peers in the industry.

Hot on the heels of talented artists like DJ Steevy comes Graskop native and Johannesburg based super-deejay who goes by the name of 2BLAK. 2BLAK’s real name is Brian Mokoena who has just released his promotional EP titled Light of the Night.

Light of the Night is six hot house tracks that fuses the contemporary, deep house and mellow sounds that should see listeners with expensive cars dropping their convertible tops and just cruising to the sound of this beautiful recording.

Bush Funk, which is the first offering on the CD can do with vocals sung by a woman in soprano. The funky house beat alone sounds a little hollow over a thumping bassline.

Free Ride is the kind of track you listen to in the early hours of Sunday after a night of wild partying. It does not come across as something to dance to but just bopping your head to the infectious percussion. The kind of track that makes you want a refill.

Gone unfortunately sounds like a Pretoria track. The one that requires someone to go down with their hands on their heads as if they have a headache.

So Much Trouble is badly labeled since nothing says ‘trouble’ in the track. The mixing makes it a strong deck contender for any aspiring deejay. It loops without serious effort and borrows the crossover of Bush Funk. It can do better with vocals, even if it’s choral.

By far the best track on the EP has to be Taking you High with its intoxicating beat. High-riders should find this track so encouraging of being high, which is both good and bad.

Fly Away is a goodbye song and it’s well placed as the last track on this teaser. Mokoena is really on fire as he said in his Facebook, ‘somebody forgot to tell him not to play with matches

He says his intention is to create a fanbase and listenership for himself before putting a full-length album on the shelves. “Akon said that when you enter the music industry you shouldn’t just bring your talent and your demo, you need to have a business plan. You must know where you as a brand will be in a couple of years time. Will you be endorsing fashion labels or launching yours, will you be launching cologne or how do you plan to diversify your brand. That’s how I come into the music industry, not just to make music but to make the most of this industry through different streams”, says 2BLAK.

His CD should be on the shelves later this year as he is still pushing for his excellently produced EP to get the necessary airplay to facilitate the second SAMA award for Mpumalanga. And he believes that with hip hop producers like Abe, groups like Native Squad and up and coming deejays like Ntate J Modise, this province can set the benchmark in a few years time and have its own sound like Durban.


2 comments:

  1. Hey mfana good staff, you know how we do it, how we role on it, so aluta mfana 1 way. don't forget to send me the promo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey mfana good staff, you know how we do it, how we role on it, so aluta mfana 1 way. don't forget to send me the promo

    ReplyDelete

Dear Commentator

Kasiekulture encourages you to leave a comment and sensitize others about it. However due to spammers filling this box with useless rhetoric that has nothing to do with our posts we have now decided that to comment you have to go to our Facebook Page titled THE Kasiekulture BLOG. We will not authorise any comments. Apologies for the inconvenience.