DJ Lag

Born in Clermont, KwaZulu-Natal, Lwazi Asanda Gwala, known as DJ Lag, has developed a gqom approach closely tied to Durban’s scene, of which he has been part since the early 2010s. His work sits within a dry, percussive and minimal club electronic style, marked by heavy bass, fragmented rhythms and the rough texture local producers have associated with the term uthayela. DJ Lag began circulating his music outside traditional channels— notably via WhatsApp—before releasing the EPs DJ Lag and Ice Drop in 2016, and Stampit in 2018. Around the same period he brought this sound to international stages with a notable debut at Unsound in Poland, followed by dates in Seoul and Afropunk New York, as well as a residency on Rinse FM and an Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. His trajectory broadened through collaborations with Epic B, Shekhinah and Okzharp, with whom he released the EP Steam Rooms in 2019. That year he also released Uhuru, a tribute to a club central to gqom’s history in Durban, and appeared on “My Power” from Beyoncé’s album The Lion King: The Gift.