South African DJ-cum-record producer Lutendo “DJ Sliqe” Kungoane, since being catapulted into the spotlight thanks to the traction of “Do Like I Do”, has cemented his place as one of the country’s leading DJs and record producers. With the release of his signature Injayam series, which currently has three volumes and with the latest one being fully unleashed as a double-disc, he has established a firm foothold on the game and found his fingerprint.
Surrounded by the dawn of Y2K music local and abroad growing up, the SAMA-winning DJ recalled how his childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood experiences came together and made him the man he has become.
“Growing up I used to listen to a lot of hip-hop, house, R&B, and all the old songs my parents used to play. Somewhere in primary, I started being influenced by people like Lil Bow Wow, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Eminem. I used wear those G-Unit sneakers and buy their albums back when they were still being sold as CDs. Then I got to high school. Our boarding school had a sound system with a mixer, so we picked that up, connected it to our computers, and started mixing on our VirtualDJ. We’d host some stuff in Matric and play the whole night. Then I got into a commune in varsity during my time at UJ. My commune housemates had CDJs, so I started to teach myself how to play, and that’s how it all began,” he said.
DJ Sliqe | SUPPLIED
Chartering the precarious path of lengthy albums, the “On It” hitmaker took the two-CD approach for Injayam, Vol. 3, half-releasing the hip-hop-based Side A of the project first. Featuring the like likes of Emtee, Maglera Doe Boy, Blxckie, FLVME, and The Big Hash among others, the first portion of the album was specially curated by Slique for his hip-hop followers.
Venturing to newer territories, Vol. 3 also saw the “iLife” mastermind explore other genres and sounds on the obverse Side of this latest installment, enlisting the help of amapiano stars such as TOSS, Mawhoo, Ch’cco, and Nkosazana Daughter. Sliqe spoke about the creation of the dual album and the thinking that went into rolling it out incrementally.
“I wanted to release Side B of Injayam, Vol. 3 by itself earlier this year because it was almost done. That side of the album is more Afro and Kwaito and Pop, and I knew that if I released that first my core fans would be angry and start asking me: “Where’s the hip-hop, bro?” You know? So, I started working on the hip-hop till we had a couple of songs, enough to spin it into an album.
“But I was conflicted as to what to do. I started wondering if I should put it together in such a way that it was one or two hip-hop songs, followed by an afro song, but that didn’t really sit right with me. That’s how I decided to make the hip-hop side of the album track one to track eleven, so that it sounded like its own body of work. The other Side already sounded like a body of work on its own as well – and so that’s how I ended up giving the album a Side A and a Side B,” he said.
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The DJ expressed satisfaction with his growth curve since the drop of Injayam, Vol. 1, feeling as though he’s gotten to a point where he could command his creative vision with greater accuracy.
“On the first Injayam, I was just a producer by putting people together, selecting beats, vocalising the things I wanted to see make it into the album. With Vol. 3, most of the beats were started and finished by collaborators. So, there’s a huge difference when it comes to input in totality. With this kind of growth, I am able to verbalise and put into action what I’d like to hear better. Like, I’m happy with the kwaito and I’m happy with the hip-hop – I’m happy with where it’s at because it’s where I wanted it to be from the get-go. I wanted the hip-hop to be banging so that all the songs could be played in the club. Same as with my kwaito. I wanted the music to get to a point where I could play at least four or five songs in the club or at a festival or at a show. The kind of music that makes you want to get up and go get it!” he said.
The collabo maestro revealed that a number of visuals were in the pipeline, and that he had plans on compressing all the music of his Injayam series into a show sometime in 2025.
“We are about to shoot visuals for “MMM” with Kwesta, Maglera, TOSS, and Tony Dayimane. And there’s about three more videos to shoot, included a music video for “Buss Buss”. I also wanna shoot a documentary if I can. I wanna do something I call “The Injayam Experience” next year March, where all the Injayams will get to be performed by the artists at a concert. That’s what we are gearing up towards,” he said.
DJ Sliqe | SUPPLIED
With plans for world domination, Sliqe spoke about the virtue of relentlessness in the pursuit of excellence and growth. The nonstop search for greatness has kept the producer going, digging deep for hits and relationships with artists around him and those abroad.
“As a producer you never really see your end goal. You just have to keep going and keep getting better. Sometimes you get to a point where you feel a certain song is your best, only for you to realise there’s still more. There’s always so much more, always. Even the day I get a Grammy, I’ll probably be like, “Aw, what’s next?” I just wanna keep going and work with international artists. I wanna work with a lot of African artists and grace the global stage of music,” he said.
Inspired by modern greats behind the music desk such as DJ Khaled and Metro Boomin and giving a shoutout to his compatriot MashBeatz, Sliqe rounded up the conversation by placing a premium on open-mindedness, stressing the importance of keeping a student mindset when trying to grow and stay relevant in the fast-paced yet fickle world of music.
“What has helped me in the industry is staying up to date with the news, the latest drops, the youth and what they like. You know, always learning about what’s coming up that’s new and finding out how you can fuse it with your own stuff and to see how you can grow from it. Do you vibe with it? What can you take from it? It’s about what you can learn from the new music, and not being rigid in your taste and your preferences,” he said.
