This week musical powerhouse Distruction Boyz announced their debut album, Gqom Is the Future had reached gold status a mere eight weeks after its release. This is the first gqom album to achieve this.
The pair’s music falls under the genre gqom which includes house music and kwaito in a sound that is unique to Durban. The duo’s popular dance song Omunye phezu koMunye is believed to be the track with which many revellers will see in the new year.
The duo, Thobane “Que” Mgobozi and Zipho “Goldmax” Mthembu, posted on social media: “South Africa this one is for you. We are proud to announce that today (Monday) history has been made again, our album has officially been certified gold.” This ran alongside a picture of the gold certificate.
The group said: “It’s amazing not only for us but the entire team. It’s something you can never get used to because this means that until the end of time, the world will always remember that Distruction Boyz from South Africa were the first to reach gold in the genre.”
On the possibility of going platinum, they said: “It’s a huge possibility because after we announced the album had gone gold, people started buying it. So we’ll leave that to our supporters.”
The kings of gqom have a heavy line-up for the festive season and will be performing throughout the Christmas weekend. They will manage to spend a couple of hours with their families before their evening performance on Christmas day.
One project close to their hearts is giving back to the community. They plan on visiting homes for the disabled and a couple of orphanages in and around KwaMashu, Durban, their hometown.
Asked what their Christmas meal would be, Mgobozi responded: “In the hood you don’t really have much of a choice, you eat what’s available at home, and on Christmas Day, that is when we’ve had all the luxuries of having two different curries in one day and a variety of salads.
“I guess I’ve never really had a favourite meal, unless I was visiting at a friend’s house - oh and I guess the option of having a braai on Christmas is a firm favourite.
“Although our time is limited, we will make time to spend with our families. They keep us grounded. But Christmas won’t be about us and our families; we need to spend time with those less fortunate than us, we also need to make sure that our fans are kept dancing.”
So what does 2018 promise? “More collaborations. More polishing of the sound. More exports of the sound. More live elements added to the sound and definitely more education towards to production of the sound so gqom is here to stay and we are here to take it to the world,” said Mgobozi.
From it’s humble beginnings in the townships of Durban, gqom is sweeping the dance floors in the party capitals of Europe, Asia and North America, but you are likely to hear it inside mini-buses.
Gqom is a sub-genre of house music, born at the hands of underground beat makers rebelling against normal house music. It’s composed by hard beats and at times vocals. It has roots from kwaito and samples from tribal house, techno, choral music, African drum beats and maskandi.
Most of the tracks are experimental using software which has given creative power to a generation of music producers. It emerged around 2009.
Since then the genre has given rise to household talent such as Babes Wodumo, RudeBoyz, Distruction Boyz and DJ Maphorisa.
The popular DJ Maphorisa came together with Blaqboy Music for his new album called Gqom Wave and as an accompaniment he also released a 15-minute self-titled documentary late last month.
The documentary premiered on MTV Base earlier this month.
The short film features segment interviews with DJ Maphorisa, DJ Tira, Da Fresh, DJ Vumar, RudeBoyz, Distruction Boyz and Refiloe Ramogase, GM for Sony Music Entertainment Africa.
The documentary not only shines the spotlight on gqom music, but also the dance culture around it and the ability for a turn-up.
As one of the interviewees states: “Everywhere you go in South Africa, people can do the ‘vosho’ (a dance move).”
“What really identified gqom beats is the pattern. There is a certain pattern that is used, it’s dark. Whatever element they (producers) are using the tone or trap it is more loud, it’s in your face,” DJ Maphorisa said.
For Da Fresh, a music producer, gqom music is a “culture for people in the hood” and has impacted township life.
Last year, gqom began taking international dance floors by storm.
This infiltration has now seen the likes of US DJ and producer Diplo and Swizz Beats “appropriate gqom culture”.
The channel will repeat the short film on Christmas Day at 10.15am.
MTV Base also has shows such as Gqom Party and Gqom Friday, which dedicate an hour-long slot to gqom music.