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Uncle Waffles
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Uncle Waffles is the stage name of Lungelihle Zwane, a DJ and producer from Eswatini who works in South Africa. She was born in 2000, grew up with her grandmother and listened to South African house and kwaito by, among others, Black Coffee and Lebo Mathosa. At first she presented on Swazi television, where she came into contact with DJ equipment. Then she moved to South Africa to study. During the coronavirus lockdowns in 2020 she learned to DJ and, by her own account, practised eight hours a day.
Music and breakthrough
Her breakthrough came in October 2021, when she stepped in at a club in Soweto. A video of her dancing during her set to Adiwele by Young Stunna went viral. She specialises in amapiano, a South African style, and Billboard called her the Princess of Amapiano. Her debut single Tanzania was released in March 2022, together with the EP Red Dragon, and went to number one in South Africa. Rolling Stone placed the song at number eight on its list of the best Afropop songs of that year. The EPs Asylum and Solace (2023) followed later. In 2022 she toured the United Kingdom and Ireland, and was given a residency at BBC Radio 1.
Influence
In April 2023 she was the first amapiano musician at the Coachella festival. Beyoncé used a sample of Tanzania in a dance break during her Renaissance World Tour. Uncle Waffles shows how an African dance style could reach a worldwide audience through social media.