ÍøÆغÚÁÏ

Moonchild Sanelly is an electrifying performer from South Africa who refers to her music as future ghetto punk. Known for her outspoken views on female empowerment and sexual positivity, she sings in Xhosa and English over productions drawing from house and dance-pop as well as hip-hop and dancehall. Following the release of her 2015 debut full-length, Rabulapha!, she became a celebrity in her home country, and reached international audiences through her appearances on releases by Beyoncé, Gorillaz, Major Lazer, and others. Her second album, 2022's Phases, incorporated South African dance genres like gqom and amapiano as well as left-field pop. Full Moon, described by the artist as her rawest and most honest work, arrived in 2025.

Sanelisiwe Twisha was born in Port Elizabeth in 1987. She moved to Durban in 2005 to study fashion, and she later launched a clothing line called Moonchild Cultwear. She began performing in Durban in 2006, blending poetry with her family's background in hip-hop, jazz, and kwaito. She frequently appeared on Poetry with King Siso, a weekly program on Durban radio station Gagasi FM. Her work with DJ Shimza brought her to the attention of Red Bull, which booked her for their music festivals and sponsored her recordings. Based in Johannesburg, Moonchild Sanelly released her debut album, Rabulapha!, in 2015, and subsequently issued songs with Jay Cubed, DJ Maphorisa, Missu, and others.

In 2018, she was featured on Die Antwoord's European tour, and she reached a much greater level of international exposure when she was featured on Beyoncé's 2019 soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift. Additionally, she appeared on releases by Africa Express and DJ Lag, and released her EP Nüdes at the end of the year. Sanelly guested on Gorillaz's Song Machine, Season One and Die Antwoord's House of Zef in 2020, as well as Ghetts' Conflict of Interest and Major Lazer's Music Is the Weapon (Reloaded) in 2021. She hosted a talk show, The Madness Method, a BET Africa program that was also made available as a podcast. Sanelly continued releasing singles like "Yebo Teacher" and "Covivi." Her second album, Phases, arrived in 2022, featuring several previously issued singles, often inspired by gqom and amapiano, in addition to more pop-influenced material. Following the album, Sanelly appeared on songs by Jelani Blackman and Ghetts, and released "Kokokokoko" with Jidenna and Theology HD.

In 2024, she collaborated with Self Esteem for the song "Big Man." Her third album, Full Moon, was released in early 2025. According to Sanelly, her previous efforts represented different sides of her, while Full Moon is the arrival of her whole self, and everything she's been through. ~ Paul Simpson

DJ Lag is one of the pioneers of gqom, a form of tense, minimalist electronic dance music from Durban, South Africa. The genre originated during the early 2010s and emerged as a mainstream sensation in his home country around 2016, yet at this time, Lag was becoming more successful abroad, touring the globe and having his music released by British record labels; his self-titled debut EP included his signature track "Ice Drop." A few years later, he released EPs on Hyperdub and Diplo's Good Enuff imprint, and received major worldwide exposure after his appearance on Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack in 2019. On Lag's 2022 debut full-length, Meeting with the King, he fused gqom with the slower amapiano sound that had sharply risen in popularity the previous few years. He expanded on this hybrid with 2024's The Rebellion.

Lwazi Asanda Gwala was born in Clermont, a township of Durban, in 1995. He started producing hip-hop as a teenager, but quickly became interested in house and started making dance music. Preferring darker tracks with broken beat patterns, he connected with producers in other townships who were making similar sounds, and the gqom scene was born. His tracks started getting played at local parties, and through blogs and apps, his music spread far and wide, quickly earning attention from several U.K. DJs. In late 2016, London's Goon Club Allstars released DJ Lag's self-titled EP, which included "Ice Drop," a track he had written when he was 17. It was the first gqom track to be made into a music video, and he played it during every show as he began touring throughout Europe and Asia, starting with a set at the Unsound Festival in Poland. He released the EP Trip to New York in 2017, initially through WhatsApp.

While gqom was becoming popular in South Africa, as Babes Wodumo and Okmalumkoolkat scored huge radio hits, Lag was getting far more work overseas than at home. Distruction Boyz released a major hit called "Omunye" which was built on an instrumental track nearly identical to Lag's "Trip to New York," causing Lag to pursue legal action and eventually earn a songwriting credit. Stampit, his second Goon Club Allstars EP, was released in 2018. One of its tracks, "Drumming," was reworked as "My Power," a song from Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack (2019), which additionally featured Nija, Busiswa, Yemi Alade, Tierra Whack, and Moonchild Sanelly. The same year, Lag released EPs on Hyperdub (Steam Rooms, with Okzharp) and Mad Decent sublabel Good Enuff (Uhuru). He also recorded "Anywhere We Go," a collaboration with South African pop star Shekhinah, for an Adidas ad campaign.

Continuing to embrace a more vocal-heavy gqom sound, as opposed to his earlier instrumentals, Lag released tracks with NOTA ("Jungle") and DJ Tira ("Siyagroova") in 2020. Later in the year, another one of his older tracks was lifted. DJ Megan Ryte and will.i.am released a single called "Culture," additionally featuring A$AP Ferg, and were met with accusations of plagiarizing Lag's signature track "Ice Drop." The Black Eyed Peas founder offered an apology, and the track was subsequently removed from streaming services. Lag released collaborations with Lady Du and Sinjin Hawke in 2021, as he prepared for the release of his debut full-length. Meeting with the King was issued through Black Major and Lag's own Ice Drop in 2022. The album was a hybrid of his signature gqom style and the slower, smoother amapiano sound which had taken over South Africa and achieved worldwide popularity, and it featured collaborations with Mr. JazziQ, Babes Wodumo, Mampintsha, and others. In 2023, Lag collaborated with grime emcee Novelist on the track "Bulldozer." The Rebellion, Lag's second album, arrived in 2024. Featuring guests such as Mr Nation Thingz, Blxckie, and DJ Maphorisa, the album fuses gqom and amapiano with drill and Afro-tech. ~ Paul Simpson