Durban Day 2015 & All You Need To Know About It!

*Parking available in Mustering Fields, opposite People’s Park, for R20.

The Line-Up

• AKA – The self-proclaimed African Hip Hop Prince’s star just keeps shining brighter. AKA scooped Male Artist of the Year at the 2015 South African Music Awards, and his second album, Levels, continues to deliver – recently having gone gold. “I’m trying to bridge the gap between fans of different genres and cultures through a new style of African hip-hop music,” says the artist through his newly minted grill. Levels is a world-class slice of contemporary hip hop, produced to perfection by AKA himself and his crew of collaborators from across Africa, and we can’t wait to welcome him to the Durban Day stage!

• Beatenberg – The freshest new face in South African pop music, cleaned up at the South African Music Awards this year – scooping six awards, including Best album for their debut The Hanging gardens of Beatenberg. Although Matthew Field, Ross Dorkin and Robin Brink are schooled in ‘serious music’ like Beethoven, Debussy and John Coltrane they are adamant that Beatenberg is heard as ‘pop music’, which they believe is actually quite serious too.

• Khuli Chana – Credited with changing the face of hip hop in South Africa. The multi-award winning artist is set to release his highly anticipated third studio album this year. A crowd favourite at last year’s Durban Day, Khuli Chana has opened for international acts such as Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar and has toured in other parts of Africa as well as in the UK and the USA. We can’t wait to see him back on stage in Durban!

• Mafikizolo – “The best group in Africa right now” is how Mafikizolo’s Twitter profile reads, and who are we to disagree? After a five-year hiatus, Mafikizolo (Nhlanhla Nciza and Tebogo Madingoane) smashed back onto the scene in 2013 in a huge way with their eighth album, Reunited, and the massive crossover hit, Khona. Mafikizolo has toured extensively in Africa and overseas, and they’ve shared the stage with the likes of Will Smith, Bono, Queen, India Arie and Missy Elliot. Over a million album sales later, their list of nominations and awards just keeps growing.

• Matthew Mole – Describes what he does as Folk music with an Electronic backbone. “What I aim to achieve is for people be affected by my music – in a great way, a way that will make them think about where they’re at. Something that everyone can relate to,” he says. Matthew has toured internationally and opened for Bastille during their SA tour. He’s set to release a follow-up album to his debut The Home We Built this year.

• MiCasa – House sensation formed in early 2010 and shortly afterwards released their debut album, Mi Casa Music, which reached platinum status in South Africa and in the process made them household names in a matter of months. 2011 was the real year of magic for the trio – J’Something, Mo-T and Dr Duda – after their single These Streets hit the airwaves. 2012 saw the group scoop three SAMAs for their efforts. In 2013, Mi Casa released their second album – Mi Casa Su Casa – to instant acclaim: their single Jika was among the highest circulating songs on SA radio for over 10 weeks. The group has performed at the US presidential inauguration, in Europe and the UK.

• Monark – Changing the face of pop music in South Africa, crafting songs rich in meaning with soul stirring hooks. Performing as a four-piece band, Monark delivers something completely fresh and unique, and is setting trends sonically and stirring up tastes in the South African music landscape. The band’s debut album, NEGATIVES, was released in July 2014 and peaked at no. 1 on the iTunes Album Chart on its release day. The band was nominated for Best Pop Album and Record of the Year at the 2015 South African Music Awards, along with a nomination for Ewald Jansen van Rensburg for Best Producer for NEGATIVES.

• Prime Circle – Since they first burst out of Witbank 11 years ago, Prime Circle’s career has been an inspiration that has spawned hundreds of garage bands across South Africa, with starry-eyed young rockers hoping that one day they might make it big the way Ross Learmonth, Dirk Bisschoff, Marco Gomes, Neil Breytenbach and Dale Schnettler have. Dubbed the most successful rock act in South African history, Prime Circle released their sixth album, Let The Night In, in 2014 – and then hit the road for one of their biggest European and South African tours.

• Thandiswa Mazwai – Started her music career in 1998 with Bongo Maffin, one of Kwaito’s pioneering bands.  Six award-winning albums later, she ventured out on her own. Her debut album, Zabalaza’ reached double platinum status and won numerous awards. Thandiswa followed this up with a critically acclaimed second album, Ibokwe, in 2009. Born in the year of the Soweto Uprising, Thandiswa has always felt that she has the soul of a rebel. In her own words: “Music gave me an opportunity to feed my revolutionary self.” Thandiswa has performed all over the world and has shared the stage and collaborated with the likes of Hugh Masekela, Angelique Kidjo and Salif Keita – among many others.

• Veranda Panda – Liam and Jane. Born and bred on the east coast of South Africa, they bring the unlikely combination of EDM and violin together to create a unique brand of music that has made them one of the country’s most original acts. Veranda Panda has opened for international DJs Borgore and I’ll Gates and has supported local greats such as Die Antwoord and Goldfish – among many others.