FRATPACKER WORLD.

A Rising Star On The Decks

Since 2020 we’ve seen the rise of more and more women playing, taking up space and dominating the DJ world. While there are a lot of comments and stigma surrounding women DJs, such as, “they only get booked for their looks” or “it’s a feminist agenda” or the most disrespectful one of all, “the organiser/promoter is just trying to smash.” . All of these statements are disrespectful, degrading and disregards all the work and systems that these women have to fight through to get to where they want to be and live their dreams.

Now, I could just write an article raving and ranting about how we need to kill this narrative and we need to do more but instead I’ll actually do more and start talking on the women making and creating waves in the DJ world. To start off, if you don’t know by now, this magazine is a big fan of everything Hip-Hop culture related so when seeing online debates of hip-hop DJs not bringing the heat or playing the same songs at every event or groove, I take that personally. There are a variety of hip-hop DJs who are carrying the flag and waving it high and proud for the whole culture to see and ride with. One of those DJs and who we will be spotlighting and interviewing in this article is the young and great Nahledi.

Nahledi first came into my radar, I want to say, between 2022 – 2023 when she was still living in Cape Town and I had started seeing her on social media through the local hip-hop acts who would post her sets on their Instagram stories. Watching the stories and hearing her song selection was the first thing that caught my attention. Her song selection involved not just the regular hip-hop club bangers but the underground raps, the soulful raps, the neo-soul raps, the new raps, the alternative raps and most importantly the local hip-hop that she was playing. Just from that alone I could tell she was separating herself from the rest of the crowd and making a statement that she’s her to be stand out and give outstanding performances.

I knew she would be making waves in the hip-hop and alternative scene and not just cause of her song selection but her technical skills as well. Her mixing, blends and transitions are things you can tell that she has worked on and practiced with dedication and passion. She’s not just trying to have dope song selection cause then if so she’d just be a playlist curator and not a DJ. You see this passion and dedication with the energy, vibes and fun she has when she’s on decks and how the crowd reacts to her sets as well. The fact she’s always willing to push the audience to learn and appreciate new songs that may not have heard before. Keeping the spirit of DJing alive, which was about getting and breaking new songs and records to the crowd and do it for South African Hip-Hop, R&B and Alt music was something that no one could overlook or deny.

That’s why it came to no surprise that Johannesburg organisers, promoters and brands started calling and flying her out to play her sets at their events. She was creating a fan base and community of her own. A community of people who range outside of conforming to the norms and the usual but wanting and craving something new, something different, something with feeling. This community and demanding kept growing to the point that eventually she just had to relocate to Johannesburg because I mean Cape Town, you know…well, that’s a topic for another day.

This allowed her more access to the entertainment industry and scene but a wider and diverse fanbase. This has led to her playing events like Narow-Bi, Soundset Sunday, Slow Cooked Sundays, Eden, Prime, Pantone Sundays, Ebumnandini, Good Morning, Kwa Gogo and more. She’s played for brand events such as Adidas, Garnier, Sportscene, Maybeliine, Spotify, Brutal Fruit and all the others I may have forgotten cause the list goes on. Her impact and influence has been so great that even Play Energy Drink had to sign her on as a DJ to their ShePlays campaign, that focuses on empowering and promoting women DJs and breaking the stigmas and barriers that I mentioned in the beginning of the article.

I could go on and on about Nahledi and how she is a star both [Nahledi translated means Star] literally and figuratively but rather hear from the star herself so let’s get into with Nahledi.

INTERVIEW WITH NAHLEDI

What drew you to music?

The thing that drew to me to music is that, I grew up in a family that really loved music. My dad had a huge cd collection and just being at home there was music constantly playing because of my dad, and my brother was also a big music fan, so growing up music was always around me and the sense of home and belonging drew me towards music.

Where did you learn to DJ?

So, basically in 2021 there was a P*ssy Party workshop hosted at the Waiting Room in Cape Town and a friend of mine knew I was interested in deejaying but not taking it seriously or whatever and she said, “We should go to the workshop.”. We went to the workshop, and it was eye-opening for me and one of the best experiences in my life. It opened my mind to deejaying as a concept. At the time I was working as a tutor so I saved up some of my tutoring money and bought myself a small controller, around the Black Friday weekend. From there I became best friends with YouTube and never looked back.

What makes one a DJ?

I think a deejay is a collector of music. I would even say an archivist of music. A deejay is someone who understands culturally the impact of the music that they are playing, the music that they love and know. They put people on to new music. I feel like basically a deejay is somebody who is a historian of music, to a certain extent, and somebody who specialising in having a lot of knowledge about the sound that they play, the genre that they play, the artist that they play. They have just a really big knowledge bank of music. Yes, I think that there are the technical abilities one needs to have like mixing, beat-matching, key matching, skills, effects and so on. There’s a whole bunch of technical skills but I think the thing that separates a great deejay from a good deejay, is that you can tell a great deejay from the level of research and knowledge they have on the music that they are playing and I think that what makes a really, really amazing deejay when you have a combination of the technical ability and the knowledge of the music you’re playing.

What’s the difference between having great song selection and curating a moment?

I think the difference is reading the crowd. I mean anybody can have great song selection and great song selection can take you very far, but the difference is being able to read, play and curating that moment to the specific crowd you’re playing to. That’s what makes a moment and makes it something special because if everybody in the room is resonating with what you are doing, having a good time, vibing to it and really enjoying it, it becomes something bigger than just playing their favourite song. I think great song selection can create those experiences, but when you really want to capture the moment, it’s about you and the crowd moving in unison with one another. You must really get into their heads and taking them on a journey with you. That’s the biggest difference in song selection and curating a moment. It’s about really involving the crowd in what you are doing.

Favourite & worst stigma about being a DJ?

The worst stigma about being a deejay is that we are all players. That is not true because I’m the biggest lover girl to exist and I know a whole lot of deejays who are lover girls themselves, so that’s not true at all.

My favourite stigma is that deejays are supercool people. I, definitely, agree. Deejays are some the coolest people I’ve met, and nicest people I’ve met. We just got a really great vibe going on for us and I think everybody is so different and unique in or own ways. Deejays being cool people, has to be my favourite stigma because I’m the proof in the pudding.

If you could be a DJ for an artist, which artist and why?

Honestly speaking, I would not be an artist deejay and just be my own deejay. I always think of this FKA Twigs song [Which Way ft Dystopia] and there’s a line in it that says, “I’m not the accessory to the rockstar. I am the rockstar.”, so I feel like I am the rockstar. I like being the deejay that is the artist instead of the deejay to the artist. I have a lot of respect for artist deejays and the chemistry and relationship that they have to build with the artist. For me I think of your Pinky Girl, Kaytranada, Jyoty, you know the deejays where they are the rockstars, they are the artist, the ones people want to see. I think of DBN GOGO she is the rockstar deejay! My goal in life is to be the rockstar deejay and not be an accessory to the rockstar. I prefer to be the main act in the performance that’s happening.

As a woman hip-hop & alternative DJ what’s one thing you wish the industry and fans would just shut up about?

I think the one thing I wish the industry would just let go is the concept of “one size fits all” and telling people, who they should be, how they should play, what they should do with their craft and how they should go about it. I honestly believe everyone is unique and that everybody has their individuality and that’s the thing that separates you apart from every other deejay. As soon as we start creating this system/machine of having a mould or formula of how people should be, it becomes monotonous and we all start sounding the same, which is not the goal or the point of deejaying. I feel like it stifles creativity and it holds people back from reaching their full potential. I think of an Uncle Waffles; if you love dancing and dance music, and you put those together it becomes something unique, amazing and beautiful and it works but I don’t think necessarily that will be the formula that will work for everybody. Some people are great at mixing or mashups so telling them, “No, mashups don’t work, you should be dancing.”, that could stifle them when they are brilliant at it. I think give people the creative license to do the thing that they do, as best as they can, and let them work on their craft and build their craft. Lt them explore and experiment without trying to copy and paste someone’s formula onto them. I don’t think it’s necessary. In my experience, I had people telling me, “You should stick to one sound or genre.”, and I’m glad I didn’t listen to them because I’m really good at having multiple genres in my repertoire and if I took their advice I would have stifled my own creativity and limits to my progression and evolution not just as a deejay but as an artist, so I don’t agree with the “one size fits all” ideology.

The 5 albums that changed your life?

The 5 albums that changed my life in no particular order are;

Sango & Xavier Omar – Hours Spent Loving You

Frank Ocean – Channel Orange

Lil Wayne – The Carter IV

Mac Miller – The Devine Feminine 

FKA Twigs – Caprisongs

Honourable mention to J Cole – Born Sinner (Deluxe Version) and Doja Cat – Scarlet

Tag Tuesdays, what was the inspiration behind it and do you consider yourself a hoarder?

I have been really trying to work on my content, on social media, and being more consistent on posting and more consistent on giving the full landscape of who Nahledi is, outside of just being a deejay. Outside of being a deejay, I really do like being outside even if I’m not working and Tag Tuesdays came out of the concept of me trying to show more aspects of my personality but still aligned with my profession of deejaying, love of music and something I can do consistently. I realised that “Oh I have a tag jar and there are tags from everywhere and anywhere, that I kept my tag from.”, so it was just like a really great way to practice storytelling and a consistent story that can build into a series because the audience already know what to expect but waiting to hear what the different experiences that were had. It makes for a great way to share content from things that I’ve been to or done that I never got to share without it being a random throwback. The fact that it also doesn’t just revolve around me deejaying but going to concerts as a spectator and fan myself but also other tags like…well I can’t leak those tags to you right now [laughs]…but tags from activities and trips, and it was cute and nostalgic to look back at those moments. The fact it has resonated with other people who have tag jars and who keep their items such as souvenirs or memorabilia, has also been a gift and creating a safe space and community for us to share these keepsakes with each other.

Now, to answer your second question. No, I’m not a hoarder. I would say, yes, I am a memory hoarder but not a hoarder in general. I’m very okay with letting things go. I give away clothes and things. Like I do be clearing out my closet and stuff, every now and again just giving away items and such. For me memories are so precious and it’s what I hold dear to my heart. I have lots of photos. Like lots and lots of photos. Too many photos [laughs]. I’m so close to paying for the Apple storage, that is way too much money but yeah, I have a lot of photos and tags. The tags have memories and are attached to specific times, events, and situations in life. I’m definitely not a hoarder in the general sense but a proud memory hoarder because they are precious and it’s my way of having a photo album without having an actual photo album.

THE END.