Over the last few years, DJ Fosta has been steadily winning international acclaim with his expressive house production. Hailing from the township of Langa in Cape Town, he has played at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK and has seen the likes of Skrillex and Richie Hawkins visit his studio. He describes his artistic mission as a kind of diplomacy ‘Using different sounds I create house music and use it to get through to the soul of the audience. I believe music is a driving force for the youth in Langa and I’m fully comitted to take Langa to the World’. Langa has a long history of producing musicians, and was the birthplace of the iconic Brenda Fassie.
Fosta has been producing since the 90s, getting his start making kwaito songs on a Roland XP-50. His work has evolved into a style which has been called sjoko-jojko, which roughly translates as ‘ party lifestyle’. His production blends hard beats with ethereal deep house and emotive vocals. The hard edges in his work could be understood as Cape Town’s answer to the machine gun gqom coming out of KZN. But Fosta sweetens the brooding elements with mellifluous pop influences. His production mastery is shown on a set he did for the DJ Sounds Show in 2014. Over the hour set, he gradually escalates dreamy house sounds into a pulverising synthesiser waves, before bringing it all back down again.
Aside from making progressive music, Fosta is also applying his talents to social development. He founded 021 Records to give exposure to emerging house and kwaito artists from Langa, and has become deeply involved with the Bridges for Music organisation. This non-profit uses electronic music as a platform to break down socio-economic barriers, through workshops and music training. It is currently fundraising to build the Langa Music School, to help develop the next generation of Fassies and Fostas.