DJ Lag Interview: Southside mixtape, new singles, and the future of Gqom
We chat to South Africa's Gqom king, DJ Lag, about his upcoming mixtape, Southside, how to get into the genre, and what the future holds for Gqom and its collaborators
Date published: 7th Nov 2025
“With Southside, I wanted to celebrate where I’m from while showing where the Gqom sound is going,” says DJ Lag. “It’s for the people who’ve been with me from the start, and for everyone discovering the movement for the first time.”
For those who’ve followed dance music’s global undercurrents throughout the last decade, DJ Lag should hardly need an introduction. From the streets of Durban, South Africa, to the dancefloors of Ibiza and Glastonbury, he’s become Gqom’s de facto ambassador, leading the charge as the genre shifted from a uniquely local rumble to a headsy global groove.
For those not so well-versed, “the easiest way to explain Gqom is that it's like the African dubstep.” Raw, percussive, skeletal, built from the eccentric pulse of Lag’s home city, “It has that real hip-hop feeling in it, but it just makes you want to dance.”
Southside, his forthcoming mixtape, feels like a natural next step. A celebration of the movement that made him, and a glimpse into where it’s heading next. Out November 14th, the release sees Lag fold the energy of Gqom into Afro-tech, 3-step, and wider global club sounds, building on the momentum of his hit sophomore effort, The Rebellion, whilst still pushing the genre’s envelope.
“I always try to mix different sounds with my style, and when we fused these things together, it just worked perfectly,” he says.
That collaborative spirit runs through Southside. Across its 12 tracks, Lag links with DJ Maphorisa, Vigro Deep, Sir Trill, Ape Drums, DJknator, Jay Music and more. Among them is Thobeka, who returns on the mixtape's latest single ‘Wa'Wa'Wa’ after last year’s excellent ‘Yebo.’ “Collaborating with DJ Lag is always a dream,” she affirmed, “and this one’s going to light up the dance floor.”
Released at the end of October, ‘Wa’Wa’Wa’ bottles the pulse of a night out - cups raised, confidence high, and the crowd moving as one. It also brings DJknator into the fold on production, his spark fuelling the beat’s feverish momentum.
“I want to take a moment to appreciate Thobeka for this one,” says Lag. “She's always delivering fire vocals whenever we get a chance to collaborate, just like with ‘Yebo’. It's always good working with her, and I think we both understand our styles, and they always complement one another.
“Also, a big shout-out to DJknator for adding his touch and inspiration for the beat. I hope people really vibe with it as much as we did.”
Yet, for many, the most noticeable collab on the record will come from Major Lazer’s Ape Drums on ‘GQTech’ - a “powerful," Afro-Tech-meets-Gqom hybrid that’s as much about connection as it is about club power. The pair first linked up online during lockdown. “We’ve been talking for years,” says Lag. “I started talking to him around 2020 or 2021, and we just started making music, but we only met for the first time this year.”
What followed was fast and instinctive. “I started the song, sent him the file, and he worked on it on his side. It didn’t even take days; I think it was like a few hours,” he says. The result, powered by Lag’s unmistakable Gqom percussion and Ape Drums’ Afro-tech energy and festival-sized intensity, is the kind of sonic collision you wonder how the world has gone without for so long.
But this wasn’t just another collab. For Lag, it tapped into something older, a story that started years before ‘GQTech’. “Diplo from Major Lazer was one of the first international artists to connect with my music, so working with Ape Drums on this track really brought everything full circle.”
“The day I met Diplo was just the craziest thing ever,” he recalls. “I was in LA to finish a track called ‘My Power’ and someone from South Africa who does events there hit me up like, ‘Since you’re here, let’s do something small.’”
It was barely a gig - “a random small bar,” he laughs - but fate intervened. “Pretty much as soon as I started, Diplo walked in. I was like, ‘Nah, it can’t be. Why is he here?’ But I kept playing.” Mid-set, Diplo reappeared. “He came back and was like, ‘Yo, I f**k with the music, can we play back-to-back?’ Obviously, I was like, yeah, let’s do it.”
The two jammed for an hour, trading beats and grins. “After that, he told me, ‘If you want to release music under my label, we can do it,’ and we exchanged numbers.” What started as an impromptu set in LA became a catalyst, not only for Lag’s career, but also in this collaboration all these years later.
“For all of that to happen on the same night, it was crazy.”
Lag’s cross-genre curiosity doesn’t stop at what’s on Southside either. Even after blending Gqom with Afro-tTech, 3-sStep, and amapiano, he’s already thinking about what comes next.
“The main one would be Baile funk,” he says. “I’ve had so many people tell me how Gqom would work perfectly with Baile funk. But I just haven't found the right person to work with, but I still want to do that.”
“Grime would be another,” he continues. “I've done that before, I did a track with Novelist, but I just want to do it again, with a bit more Gqom in there.”
But Lag isn’t the only one widening the lens. Even as his own sound evolves, he’s quick to spotlight the next wave rising behind him. “The first people you need to listen to are Omagoqa,” he says. “They’re amazing, man. These new kids just changed the whole Gqom scene into something else.”
He rattles off more names - “DaMan, NovaBoy, Dee Traits” - each one carrying its own spin. “The best thing is everyone has their own style,” he says. “When you listen to all these producers, it doesn’t sound like you’re listening to one song. Everyone’s got their own voice.”
And that voice is echoing far beyond Durban. On a recent tour in Asia - “I did Shenzhen, Beijing, Tokyo, and Shanghai, and bro, Asians know how to party, ey?” - Lag was stunned by how deeply the rhythm had travelled. “All those shows were just amazing,” he says. “Like, you can't see that s**t on TV, you just need to go there.”
“It's crazy that there are other producers on that side who are making Gqom, and they've been pushing that sound since like way back.”
From Durban to Tokyo, from small bar parties to festival stages, the sound that Lag spearheaded keeps finding new ears and new collaborators, cementing his reputation as one of global dance music’s most influential modern figures. Southside feels like both a victory lap and a launchpad, proof that twenty years on, the Gqom king is still rewriting the rules.
Find out everywhere you can catch DJ Lag live in the coming months by clicking or tapping - HERE
Or, to presave/preorder the mixtape/tracks, you can do so on Beatport - HERE
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