South African music sensations Major League DJz have teamed up with American rapper Wiz Khalifa for the hit single, “Mine For The Night”.
The new release by the twin brothers, whose real names are Bandile and Benele Mbere, and the world-renowned musician, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was released on Friday, and is already making waves in the industry.
It coincided with the amapiano stars’ visit to New York City on Saturday, where they gave a live performance of their acclaimed “Balcony Mix Africa” series.
Curated by Major League DJz, the “Balcony Mix” events showcase the essence of African dance music and its ability to command stages across the world.
The series, which got its name from originally being performed live on the balcony of an apartment complex in Johannesburg during the Covid-19 lockdown and was streamed online, has since garnered millions of worldwide viewers.
The musicians have performed live acts of this series across South Africa as well as in Australia, Dubai and Miami.
And after performing at the Knockdown Center in Queens in The Big Apple, the duo are set for more tours, including in San Francisco in the US in July and London’s historic Crystal Palace Bowl in August.
Hailed by “Forbes” for being “at the forefront of Amapiano’s global takeover”, the Major League DJz are earning widespread praise for crafting a unique African sound.
For the past decade, the musicians have cemented their status in the music industry as they experimented with different genres including hip hop, kwaito, Afrobeats and amapiano.
Apart from Wiz Khalifa, they have also collaborated with the likes of Diplo and DJ Black Coffee.
They have also performed on the biggest international stages such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, The Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium and London’s famed O2 Brixton Academy.
The Mbere’s grew up in Boston in the US, where their family moved in the same social circles as legendary South African musicians such as Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba.
These associations provided the twins with an unconventional education in South African jazz and popular African music, sounds which they paired with the hip hop they grew to love in America.
They returned to South Africa in the 1990s and began building a platform as top party organisers, hosting special edition events in honour of the likes of Akon, Fat Joe and 50 Cent.
They then evolved to music creation, arriving in the early 2010s with a series of dance-ready hip hop-influenced mix tapes that melded their love for rap culture with the swaggering dance music of South Africa.