DJ Maphorisa continues to prove why he remains one of South Africa’s most influential and adaptable music figures. In a recent conversation with Tim Sweeney on Apple Music’s Beats in Space, the Scorpion Kings star opened up about his constant desire to experiment, his journey across multiple genres and his ambitious plans for the upcoming Scorpion Kings concert at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium.
Tim Sweeney: My guest today has done Cueto, House, Gqom, Afrobeats, and Amapiano, and he keeps it moving. In September, he’s filling a 95,000 seat stadium with the sound he helped take global. He’s one half of the Scorpion Kings, DJ Maphorisa.
DJ Maphorisa: Yes.
Tim Sweeney: Welcome to Beats in Space.
DJ Maphorisa: Thank you, sir. Thank you for having me.
Tim Sweeney: Man, no, thank you.
Now, we were talking about this before, and you’ve said this before, that you’re always switching genres. That’s your thing. And you’re going to do it for us again on this mix.
DJ Maphorisa: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Tim Sweeney: But with switching genres, what is it in your gut that’s telling you to move from one to the other?
DJ Maphorisa: I think I like the uncomfortable feeling. I don’t like it easy. I like to experiment. I like to discover and learn new stuff. So once I feel like I’ve achieved a certain peak with the sound, I move to the next one, just even to refresh so that even if I go back to that one, at least I have a different ear and different inspiration and stuff. So I don’t like staying in the same place for a long time.
Tim Sweeney: Right now, where do you feel yourself moving?
DJ Maphorisa: Now, I’m moving into the Afro Tech. I love the Afro Tech and I’ve been there. It’s an Afro house. I’ve been doing Afro House with Mafikizolo, Wizkid, Davido, Uhuru, with Black Coffee also. I’ve been in that space.
So when I heard about Amapiano and then when I was discovering it and stuff, I got interested. I got interested and I really liked the movement. I like the culture. They have a solid culture in my hood. In South Africa, it’s like Amapiano is really solid and it’s very supportive. So every DJ, every musician support each other. So it always keeps on going. It doesn’t stop. Maybe the hype can go down, but the culture is still moving.
Tim Sweeney: But it doesn’t seem like the hype’s going down when you’re selling out a giant stadium in Johannesburg.
DJ Maphorisa: I guess, I guess.
But sometimes it’s like… Because I feel like maybe we did a lot of Amapiano. When 3-step came, it was an exciting sound. You know what I’m saying? And then people had to… And also we needed that to refresh so that the sound also has to evolve.
Shout out to everyone who’s got the tickets. Man, we excited. 19th September, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg. It was going to be amazing, man. So we’ll be representing Amapiano. Last year, we did it. It was almost 50,000 people. It was in Pretoria, our city where we come from. It was Loftus stadium. So this year we’re doing it bigger.
Tim Sweeney: Twice as big.
DJ Maphorisa: Yes.
Tim Sweeney: How does that feel to sell that out, to go into a thing that huge?
DJ Maphorisa: Overwhelmed. And also, man, we humbled and grateful. They’re showing love. They’re showing love, especially… They’re saying charity begins at home. Especially when you sing, we’re getting love from where you’re from. It really means a lot.
Tim Sweeney: Who are you bringing? Because I know there’s families coming to this one, right? So who’s part of the family that’s coming out for Scorpion Kings?
DJ Maphorisa: Oh my gosh. Sjava. There’s an international… We just need to seal the contract, but someone international is coming.
Sjava, Mafikizolo. I’m bringing Ringo Madlingozi, Ami Faku. Busiswa. Oh, man. Msaki, Mawhoo, Nkosazana Daughter. It’s going to be crazy. There’s more. There’s more. It’s just that [inaudible 00:03:47].
Tim Sweeney: Are you going to record it so we’re going to be able to hear it? Us over here who are not going to be there. Is that-
DJ Maphorisa: We’re going to record it.
Tim Sweeney: You’re going to record it?
DJ Maphorisa: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Tim Sweeney: You used to throw parties as well. You’re a promoter.
DJ Maphorisa: I’m a promoter, yes.
Tim Sweeney: Right? To get to this level, did you ever think about that when you first started? Was there a vision in your head about stadiums?
DJ Maphorisa: Yeah. It’s been, it’s been. Because that’s another level. It’s like… Stadium status is another level. And then it also encourages you to do more and to not give up. You know what I mean? Think of Madison Square Garden and think of O2 London, think of stadiums outside South Africa. So it’s still going. The culture still have to hold it down.
Tim Sweeney: Is that the goal after? You’re going to do Madison Square Garden? O2 in London?
DJ Maphorisa: Yes. Yes.
Tim Sweeney: That’s the next goals. I like that.
DJ Maphorisa: That’s the goals, yeah.
With plans to record the historic event and dreams of eventually taking Scorpion Kings to global venues such as Madison Square Garden and London’s O2, Maphorisa’s ambitions remain as big as his influence.
