The DJ from Eswatini talks repping her homeland for an episode of The Green Room at UnitedMasters Grammys event.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - All right, we are here with Uncle Waffles.
00:14 Now I just need to ask, we were just talking about this,
00:17 how has LA been?
00:19 'Cause you've been here for a little minute.
00:20 - Yeah, it's been extremely hectic, but so beautiful.
00:24 I'm so happy to be involved in all the things
00:25 that I've been able to be invited to.
00:27 So yeah, it's been hectic, but worth it.
00:29 - And I know that, I'm sure as a DJ, I don't know,
00:32 but I'm sure it's really receptive to what you're feeling.
00:35 What are you excited about for tonight's performance?
00:38 And what do you think you're gonna channel
00:40 and bring into tonight?
00:41 - I'm excited to be doing a whole headline show
00:44 as an Amapiano act.
00:46 Putting Amapiano on the map is my main priority.
00:49 So getting to headline shows and getting to showcase piano,
00:52 very excited to see how people feel in me, you know?
00:55 - And I'm pretty sure they're gonna be feeling you.
00:56 I can already hear it.
00:57 Just like, as we're getting ready.
00:59 - Thanks.
01:00 - I know they're ready.
01:01 You did an interview with Rolling Stones' Manka Perkonte.
01:04 I think she followed you for your show in Brooklyn.
01:08 And one thing I really appreciated about that
01:11 is that you made sure that you brought a choreographer
01:14 from South Africa to work with your dancers
01:17 who may not be as familiar with the nuances
01:19 of South African dance.
01:21 Tell me about the importance of being where you are
01:23 as a South African artist and how intentional you are
01:26 about making sure that you're representing your people
01:28 and your culture to the fullest.
01:30 - I think it's very important to,
01:32 as you're taking the sound to the world,
01:34 to teach people authentically what the sound is.
01:36 So even the dancing, very important to the sound.
01:38 So bringing Lychee was very important
01:40 because I knew that it's not people's particular pocket.
01:43 Yes, they have TikTok,
01:44 but the pocket in itself is quite difficult.
01:46 So I really wanted to make sure
01:48 that my first headline show didn't miss out on anything,
01:51 from the music to the choreography, everything was,
01:53 to the tea and representing its people well.
01:55 - So let's talk about how you are redefining
01:58 what it means to perform as a DJ.
02:00 I think it's really invigorating to watch you,
02:04 you know, like you're up there, you're feeling the crowd,
02:05 and then you say, hold up, I got a little something.
02:07 You come to the front, your dancers are with you.
02:10 What inspired you to take it a step further?
02:13 - So I realized that as we're doing more international shows,
02:17 as we're going to the world,
02:18 people don't understand the genre.
02:19 People don't understand the words,
02:21 so they need a way to connect.
02:23 And because dance is such a forefront in piano,
02:26 I always knew that I need to take it to another level.
02:29 As much as people don't understand the language,
02:31 people understand dance.
02:32 That's something that doesn't need to be explained to anyone.
02:34 People always get it.
02:36 I go to shows where I'm the first touch they have of piano,
02:39 and I always want to show them that there's the music,
02:41 but the music goes hand in hand with the dancing.
02:44 The dancing is extremely important.
02:45 So yeah, I discovered that if I want to keep showcasing
02:48 the sound and growing bigger as an artist also,
02:51 there needs to be a lot more performance.
02:53 - And we are thankful, okay?
02:55 I will say that much.
02:56 - And our ex.
02:57 - I think that's how we really got to know who you are.
03:01 I think that was a lot of people's first taste
03:03 of who Uncle Waffles is.
03:05 So how did you combat that pressure
03:07 of being seen as just a viral act?
03:08 I know that it can be hard to feel that the pressure
03:12 of like, okay, and what's she gonna do next?
03:14 How did you challenge yourself to maybe either
03:18 not think about it or to think about it as fuel?
03:20 - We always thought about it.
03:21 We always wanted to make sure that there's a big moment,
03:24 but there's a big moment to skyrocket you
03:26 to doing other things.
03:27 So we always took it as this is the start.
03:30 And it's a great start.
03:32 It's a great push.
03:33 So it was always about, okay, this is not the end.
03:36 Wake up, do it again.
03:37 Wake up, do it again.
03:38 If anything, you can go viral once,
03:40 show them you can go viral next time,
03:41 and next time, and next time.
03:44 - In them times after that.
03:45 - Yes.
03:46 - In them times after that.
03:47 - Yes.
03:48 - We will absolutely be doing that.
03:49 - Yes.
03:49 - That's for sure.
03:51 So let's take a look at just Uncle Waffles in general.
03:54 Before the cameras were rolling,
03:56 I was asking you about some of these fashion looks
03:58 that I will absolutely be taking.
04:00 I am so sorry, I will credit you.
04:02 - Thank you.
04:02 - But I will be taking you as just a vision board
04:04 and being like, creating me.
04:06 - Thank you.
04:06 - So how does DJing fit into the entirety
04:09 in the holistic vision of who Uncle Waffles is?
04:12 - I'm a firm believer in swag.
04:13 I feel like how people see it first is very important.
04:16 Yes, I'm a performer.
04:17 I'm also a bit introverted.
04:19 So I choose to showcase myself through my style.
04:22 So I feel like, why can't I be a fashion girl and a DJ?
04:25 You know, you expect a look, a dance, performance, DJ.
04:28 Yeah, a lot of things, yeah.
04:30 - Tell me about this look tonight
04:31 and what does that say about Uncle Waffles today?
04:34 - Okay, so today, some shows I choose comfort, but style.
04:37 - Right.
04:38 - 'Cause you know, I know that I'm gonna be sweating.
04:40 I'm getting my thing on.
04:41 So this look is just a cute little look, comfortable.
04:44 Ready to dance for y'all, you know?
04:46 Got my tassels out to picardy for y'all, you know what I say?
04:49 - Yeah.
04:50 - Not the tassels shaking.
04:52 - Yes.
04:54 - Oh, that's fire.
04:55 I need to see the little leather,
04:56 little fringe, something, something.
04:58 Okay, I might need to get that too.
05:00 See, this is the problem.
05:01 Now I've just got, I'm gonna go broke.
05:04 I'm gonna go bankrupt.
05:05 - Don't worry, don't worry.
05:06 I'm the house.
05:07 - Okay, prayer.
05:08 It's Uncle Waffles to the world.
05:10 - Thank you.
05:10 - Thank you so much for that.
05:11 I am really appreciative of artists like you
05:14 and artists like Nia Archives
05:16 who are really showing that women can be behind the decks
05:19 and you can command the stage in a completely new way.
05:23 And I wanna talk about that choice
05:26 and how you feel to carry that.
05:29 And also some of the other women DJs
05:31 that you've been choosing to highlight even with Fly Radio.
05:34 - Yeah, I think it's a big responsibility,
05:39 but I think I love seeing women take over
05:42 'cause you know, this is a very male dominated space.
05:45 Most of the stars within the DJ space are always male.
05:47 So having stars that are female emerging,
05:50 so many females coming out,
05:51 as much as people always have something to say,
05:54 but I think they're doing absolutely amazing.
05:58 All the girls that are coming out, emerging,
06:00 yes, some are inspired by me,
06:01 some are inspired by other people.
06:02 There's so many amazing people coming out
06:04 and I'm really happy.
06:05 I'm very happy.
06:06 There's plenty of space for all of us to coexist.
06:08 - They always got something to say.
06:10 (laughs)
06:13 That little gasp, that said a lot for me.
06:16 - But it's all good.
06:21 Here I am today, you know?
06:23 - If y'all were listening, that was loud.
06:24 - Very.
06:25 - Okay. - Very.
06:26 - Very, very loud.
06:28 So before we get out of here,
06:29 I really wanna take a moment to just think about
06:31 South Africa and how it shows up in your music.
06:35 And I want to know, let's just think of
06:39 how do you think South Africa shows up
06:42 in the textures, in the sounds?
06:45 I mean, obviously, my piano is everywhere,
06:47 but I wanna know about the topography.
06:49 Give me how the things that you see
06:52 and the things that you feel show up into the sets
06:54 in the music that you create.
06:56 - So I feel like the sound in itself
06:58 is just purely South African.
07:00 From the drums, it emerges from kwaito, from house.
07:03 So it's something that has been brewing over the years.
07:05 It's a sound that's from the hood.
07:06 So down from the music, the lock drums, the dancing,
07:10 everything is purely South African about the sound.
07:12 There's literally nothing you can take away from it.
07:14 Like the dancing, the small dancing,
07:16 the small nuances of dancing, the chants,
07:20 everything purely South African.
07:22 - I want to go because I need to experience it
07:25 in the way that you just explained it.
07:27 - You should.
07:28 - I need it in my spirit.
07:29 - Definitely.
07:30 - What's a perfect night out in South Africa for you?
07:33 With you and your friends.
07:35 What's on the list?
07:37 - Me as Uncle Waffles?
07:39 - You as Uncle Waffles and you as--
07:41 - Just the--
07:42 - Both.
07:43 - Well, me as Uncle Waffles does not go out on this show
07:47 because I'm always tired.
07:49 - Right.
07:50 - I'm always tired.
07:51 I'm like always, like right now,
07:52 if I'd lay down a little right now, it'd be like, you know?
07:57 Yeah, but basic things I love doing,
08:00 I love going to watch a movie for me.
08:05 I love a good movie.
08:06 Going out to one of the,
08:07 'cause so we have these chill bars
08:09 that's like opera tempo, these cool bars,
08:12 just to chill, you know?
08:13 That's for me.
08:14 I don't do the going out anymore
08:17 because I do it too much, you know?
08:19 - Right.
08:20 - I do it too much, yeah.
08:21 - Okay, well, maybe I'm gonna do that tonight.
08:23 All right.
08:24 So thank you so much.
08:25 - Thank you so much.
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