From the burgeoning moments of his career to a creative dominance that has expanded into countless hours of success and a slew of international collaborations, (most notably Beyonce’s “Power, which bubbled him under the Grammy Radar) there is little standing in the way of Clermont, KwaZulu-Natal born Lwazi Asanda Gwala; affectionately known as DJ Lag, as he continues to ascend as a force in the tapestry of Global Dance music. 

One such case is a dynamic collision of musical forces that transcends boundaries and defies conventions. In an intimate studio session that crackled with creative electricity, South Africa’s Gqom trailblazer DJ Lag joined forces with UK’s Mercury Award nominated MC Novelist to unleash their blazing new single, ‘Bulldozer.’ A bold blend of Gqom’s monstrous beats and Novelist’s high-speed lyrical flow, ‘Bulldozer’ is a testament to the malleability of the genre and its undeniable ability to break into mainstream music. Recorded in London, this sonic masterpiece exudes familiarity and freshness, captivating listeners with its pulsating rhythms and hypnotic percussions.

As the first collaboration to emerge from DJ Lag’s Alpha Zulu World Tour Series, ‘Bulldozer’ sets the bar high for boundary-pushing musical experimentations. DJ Lag, whose ambition knows no bounds, declared his desire to blend genres and forge new sounds during this monumental tour. With ‘Bulldozer,’ he has unleashed a track that pulsates with uncontainable energy, and is poised to bulldoze its way onto dancefloors and summer playlists worldwide.

Bulldozer bridges the gap between South Africa’s Gqom and the UK’s grime and unveils the striking parallels between these two genres. Both born from the creative genius of young black artists, Gqom and Grime share the raw power of lo-fi minimalism and the DIY spirit that has resonated with music enthusiasts globally.

If third time’s the charm in my Connect Everything Collective journey, catching up with DJ Lag about this groundbreaking collaboration, the creative process behind it, the Alpha Zulu tour and the slew of show-stopping songs yet to be released from the Alpha Zulu global music camps absolutely takes the cake. I hope you will enjoy this read as much as I enjoyed the process of creating it.

Image Credit by Ryk Otto (@rykotto).

Congratulations on the Alpha Zulu Tour, where you experiment with stages and studios worldwide. What has been your most memorable studio session so far, and why? 

Definitely the 4 days I spent creating in the London sessions. On a typical day, I woke up at 6AM, got to the studio by 10, and finished by 7PM. Amid a slew of incredible producers, we had two to three artists a day who joined our creative camp sessions. I also have fond memories of recording with the likes of Ape Drums from Major Lazer; I damn near have a whole album’s worth of songs. 

Awe! So are you planning to use most of the songs for an album, or as previously mentioned in another interview, are you planning to release them as singles?

Definitely singles! Following “Bulldozer”, I have a little something with Blxckie coming out by the end of this month, and then I have a song with a London creative by the name of Gigi; we will be releasing that in July and at the end of the year we will curate an Alpha Zulu Tour project, time will tell whether it will be an album or EP.

We can’t get enough of “Bulldozer”! Have you heard his music before Joe Cotch helped facilitate the studio session with Novelist? If not, what impression did you get from being able to create the song with him in under an hour? 

“Bulldozer,” funny enough, was recorded last year during a London stop. Before I arrived at the studio, Joe was already singing high Novelist praises and sending me links to his works. I told him he was the perfect fit for the style of song I wanted to curate because I’ve been dying to infuse a Grime artist on a GQOM beat for a while. He arrived at the perfect timing while I was lobbying on the beat, he immediately started penning his verse, and by the time the composition was done, he knew everything he wanted to lace on the record, and we got to it; Joe recorded him, I came back South Africa to fix up the beat a bit and the rest, as they say, is history. 

How do you feel about the new culture of promoting songs? Does it do a disservice to the classic status of songs if you have to consider blowing up a song by going viral?

The way I see it, social media is the way to go these days, and it presents a challenge for me because I’m not a social media guru, if you catch my drift. It is by the encouragement of my team at Black Major that I can hone in social media promotion and get into the groove of campaigning around song releases, doing the Tik Tok challenges and the like and slowly but sure, I will master the craft because social media is a craft and full-time job in and of itself. I try not to let it affect my creative process so as to keep the classic stature of my songs. It is a worthy note to consider how a song will appease the algorithm Gods, but it shouldn’t explicitly be the determining factor of the production process.

You have balanced the rough kasi feel of traditional GQOM music with a syncopated rhythm, percussive heavy foundation & minimalist electronic production. Have the studio sessions you’ve shared with other global producers contributed to the smooth evolution of your sound?  

Too Much Dawg! Too Much! While we kept the camps to a minimum during last year and as the camps built momentum more this year, I found myself immersed in the learning process, both from co-producers and songwriters and singers. The sessions have influenced how I perceive my sound, the elements I want to add to my sonic evolution and how to develop my arrangements and other technicalities in the song creation process, so the project from the Alpha Zulu Sessions will definitely unearth a new style from the one I’ve become known and loved for, a scary yet exciting pivot that I’m looking forward to. 

How have you and Black Major expanded your global business relations during this tour? 

I have found a life-changing international booking agent, and he’s been getting me some hectic shows. I’ve been touring for a good year in places like India, America, Europe, UK, going back to the States in July, and I’m also planning my one-man show in London. The global business relations are handy, mainly because I want to put other Gqom artists like Magoqa (who are touring for the first time this year) on my one-man show.  

DJ Lag, can you give us a glimpse into your upcoming tour dates in July in Amsterdam, Austria, Brussels, Geneva, and America? What can audiences expect from your performances in these locations?

Since I came back home, there’s a Gqom artist by the name of the “Da Man” who just dropped his “No Bass No Fun” EP, that I’ve been working with during my Amsterdam – America run, which will kick off around 25 June the song I made with him is the one I’m looking forward to testing out the most!

Looking ahead, beyond “Bulldozer,” what future projects or collaborations are you particularly excited about? 

Myself and Que (from destruction boys) will release a remix EP for our smash hit “Where’s Your Father”, and I will be releasing my Ice Drop record label compilation where I will be pushing the likes of Da Man, KC Driller (who I did “Shululu” with on my “Meeting With The King” album). I am doing another installment of my event, “Something For Clermont”, with its complimentary music workshop to upskill the local talent around my hometown.

As his talent, crafted in the nips and tucks of electronic flare, redefines the essence of the sounds in the iconic realm of Gqom – and when you think of the musical maverick his career trajectory post his critically acclaimed debut Meeting With The King and the ongoing Alpha Zulu tour, this moment in Lag’s career has him confident about how he influences the future of dance music on a global scale. As DJ Lag states: “Everything I have been doing thus far in terms of evolving my sound, international collaborations during tours and the like have all been working towards this one objective of influencing the future tapestry of global dance music.” This is an ascent to success that knows no bounds.

All images by Travys Owen (IG @travysowen).

Written by:  KING Cedric

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