DJ Lag is capping another incredible year with the release of the video for “Amanikiniki”, featuring Unticipated Soundz.
The closing track on DJ Lag’s Uhuru EP, “Amanikiniki” was shot in Clermont in the lead-up to, and during, the landmark Boiler Room x Ballantine this September. Boiler Room and Ballantine’s first foray into the Durban region was hosted by Something For Clermont as part of DJ Lag’s signature event – and was a potent reminder of his status as gqom’s most lauded export and Clermont’s role in the birth of the genre.
“Amanikiniki” features Unticipated Soundz – a production and DJ collective based in Durban’s Newlands West area where they brew their distorted, wild variant of gqom. In the game since 2012, they’ve worked with all the gqom heavyweights – from DJ Lag to Distruction Boyz, Tonicjazz and Newlands Finest. “Our Sound is Unticipated,” says the collective – and the evidence is all over “Amanikiniki” which premiered on Rolling Stone and @Readjlag‘s IGTV.
The video is a Black Major Production and is directed, shot and edited by Chris Kets with animations by Stuart Kets. Alongside DJ Lag and Unticipated Soundz, it features dance crew, Corruption Squad. Watch “Amanikiniki” here.
Among the highlights of DJ Lag’s 2019 was producing “My Power” for Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated The Lion King: The Gift, an appearance at AFROPUNK’s Carnival of Consciousness in Atlanta with his collaborator, the drummer Moses Boyd, a storming collaboration with Shekhinah (“Anywhere We Go”) and multiple international live dates as part of his Uhuru world tour, including Sónar Barcelona 2019.
