Lungelihle Zwane[1] (born 30 March 2000),[2] known professionally as Uncle Waffles, is a Swazi DJ and record producer based in South Africa.[3] She is noted for her work in the amapiano genre and her dance abilities,[4][5] with Billboard describing her as the "princess of amapiano".[6] Her debut single,"Tanzania", reached number one in South Africa,[7] where it is certified 7x platinum.[8]
Early life
Zwane was born and raised in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).[3] She didn't know her parents and had been brought up by her grandma through her childhood years, until she reconciled with her mother as a teenager with whom she had a strained relationship thereafter.[9] Zwane grew up listening to South African house and kwaito music from artists such as Black Coffee, Lebo Mathosa and DJ Kent.[6] Before her success as a DJ, Zwane used to be a television presenter on Studio1 on Eswatini TV, but was replaced in January 2022 after parting from the show.[1][10] It was here that she first was introduced to DJ'ing by a friend who also worked at the studio, as there was a fifteen-year old set of DJ decks there.[6] She then emigrated to South Africa to attend university.[3]
Career
Uncle Waffles learned how to DJ in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns,[11][12] and claims to have practiced for eight hours each day.[6] She signed with South African creative agency KreativeKornerr, who managed to book gigs for her in the country's "heavily saturated" music industry.[6] After filling in for a withdrawn DJ at the Zone 6 nightclub in Soweto in October 2021, she gained prominence after a video of her dancing to the song "Adiwele" by Young Stunna during her set went viral.[6][13][1][14] and would begin openly endorsing her on the platform.[15] Uncle Waffles soon ventured into music production,[16] and released her debut single "Tanzania" in March 2022 in anticipation of her debut extended play (EP), Red Dragon, which was released later that month.[17] The single, which had reportedly taken her three months to perfect,[6] was ranked by Rolling Stone as the eighth best afropop song of 2022, with critics describing her as "a global ambassador for amapiano".[5] In April 2022, Uncle Waffles embarked on her first-ever tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.[18][19] The tour was closely interlinked with a series of shows organized by Piano People, which she headlined alongside DJ Maphorisa and Focalistic, and is deemed the first all-star amapiano tour in the region.[1]
Uncle Waffles released her debut music video for the track "Tanzania" in September 2022.[20] In that same month, Uncle Waffles announced that she would be hosting a residency on BBC Radio 1.[21][22] She was the only DJ that performed at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in Accra.[11][23] She partnered with KFC South Africa to launch an exclusive "Uncle Waffles burger" which was made available for purchase in local branches in December 2022,[24] and later again in September 2023.[25] She then embarked on a concert tour of the United States,[26] and then Australia.[4] British publication Mixmag hailed Uncle Waffles as one of the top breakthrough DJs of the year 2022 worldwide.[27] Streaming platform Audiomack also hailed her as an "#UpNow" artist in March 2023.[28] Uncle Waffles' second EP, Asylum, was released in March 2023 and featured the track "Yahyuppiyah",[29] which had been released as the first single from the project.[30] The EP was certified gold by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) within one week of its release.[31] In April 2023, she became the first amapiano musician to ever perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[6][32] Her song "Tanzania" was sampled by American singer Beyoncé in a dance break on the Renaissance World Tour setlist, to which Uncle Waffles reacted with the statement "I'm crying, wow," on Instagram.[33] She was nominated for Best International Act at the 2023 BET Awards.[34] Uncle Waffles released the EP Solace (2023) as the follow-up to Asylum in what she called a double-sided project titled, "An Asylum of Solace".[35][36][37] It was supported by the single "Echoes", featuring Tony Duardo, which was released on 4 August 2023.[38]
Her single "Wadibusa" featuring OHP Sage, Pcee & Djy Bizana was released on 17 April 2024. It peaked at No. 4 on the Local Top 100 and No. 11 International Top 200 respectively.[39]
Waffles will embark on her upcoming Less Talk, More Piano Tour, to commence from June 2, 2024, We Love Green, Paris until November 29, Asia.[40]
