Spinning hearts, adrenaline and dimension Koketso Reabetswe Mathabathe, known publicly in the broody music circles as DJ KMAT, is creeping in such a cool vibe — tweaking the littlest catch in her demand by giving the world crispy Amapiano treats — well-structured and mastered in finesse and elegance.
Manufacturing thumping wins, this disc jockey and sound producer’s set at the Ballentine’s Boiler Room just under a fortnight ago, can be summed up by a on the nose reverberating “yohweh!” — a Shona word verbalised when fashioning commentary about a thing, a place, or a person that comes across with you in a coercive mode.
Crazy super, while many might reason out the basal attitude of the one-word speech act, accompanied by a ponderous sigh — making it make all the sense why — only “batho ba Pitoriya” (Pretorians) would rightfully savvy the impression of “yohweh”, which transforms to “tjoweh” in circumstantial instances. Text and discourse sparked, exclaiming the latter — can merely of all time be — unequivocal when the impact of a thing is so out of the ordinary that the inflammation is on the far side of your control.
Throwing the roof off, over a week ago in Soweto, a particular set regulated the elbow room through bit-by-bit sonic builds that brought the integral area to a boil. Shockingly delicious, the played up reel of this set would fall out as a young Disc Jockey (DJ) played the smash opus titled Bhebha — a blue blooded ditty of Pretorian nostalgia. Constantly rocked in a times bubble — nearing two weeks now — DJ KMAT goes on to live rent-free in the brains of her rooters, euphony devotees, the Boiler Room attendees, and video focused social networking service Tik Tok buffs.
Friendly and fab, it might have been her skill — the way she swayed to the anthems, made emblematic Amapiano hand gestures, or that she was performing with unclouded seventh heaven in her eyes — that the assemblage present were in an uproar; their hands free-flying aboard hers. While the South African in her super kicked-in, whatever the catalyst was — her stars were so aligned that night!
Musicianship and range are so lovely and heartfelt — paying homage to the DJ Mujava epoch, the number Bhebha is rather nostalgic to the ordinary “012 Civilian”.
Razzmatazz bringing followers home with a big smile and grace — the set saw KMAT guiding the audience downcast memory lane to the period when “iziSkothane” were erect, “groove” culture was explicit, and records like ‘Township Funk’ with electronic tribal beats laced in acidic bleeps were the stuff that made a hit ballad.
Melody fanatics’ minds blown out in a room thicken by yearning — Bhebha, dispatched the crowd thunderously as the crash of the cymbals, snares, and hi-hats rang aboard the deep-chested relentless bass. Job done in less than 60 seconds flat, the bunch is absorbed in a sonic frenzy as KMAT sets up her fists in the air to rally the group, and the contiguous circle around her joins her fist whopping — a somewhat humongous trot depicting every musician’s dream. As attention is snapped upon an attainment that proceeds to come thick and fast in the aftermath of lovely slides of her happy chance, the ad-lib Soshanguve-bred producer is never wobbling as she has very much plowed the courage to dig deeper.
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Not to pass the buck, DJ KMAT is among the freshest disc jockeys in the Amapiano lane — rolling out a piercing hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterised by synths, airy pads and wide percussive basslines. And as much as she has been ticking most of the boxes leading to the big prize, her live wire tendencies in the showbiz field are not allowing any form of grandiloquent celebrations to sneak in — until she has conquered her final peak!
*Grant Moyo is a prolific writer, innovative media personality, entrepreneur and a creative artist who is passionate about using his creative mind for the betterment of society. Follow him on Twitter: @TotemGrant
