47 women to look out for behind the DJ booth this summer in South Africa

Female DJs in South Africa
As outdoor festival season approaches in South Africa, we highlight some of the women to look out for behind the decks.

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While the electronic music industry is largely dominated by males, it’s no secret artists like Charlette de Witte, Nina Kraviz, Amelie Lens, Peggy Gou and Nora En Pure know how to control a crowd.

Locally in South Africa, we have seen a recent surge in new artists performing at clubs and festivals across the country, most likely due to the pandemic. Ahead of season, we have decided to highlight some of the womxn to look out for.

Abby NuRock

Abby Nurock’s career began in 2002 with the two-second hand Technics SL/1210 decks, which she plays on to this day. Nurock is one of 947’s resident DJ’s.

Anthea Scholtz

Anthea is one of those DJ’s who is the epitome of what todays musical landscape should be. She is a multi-layered and passionate Techno fanatic and all round music lover.

Coyote

A duo formed by Savanna Goldring and Talia Zaken, these two play a range of indie dance music with psychedelic undertones.

Dbn Gogo

DBN (De-Ben) Gogo is a multi-talented young woman who has taken the South African music scene by storm. She is a musician, music producer, and professional DJ best known for Lockdown House Party on Channel O.

Desiree

In just a year, Desiree has catapulted from obscurity to become one of the most promising house Djs in Jozi. Her style of play evokes an Afrocentric mood whilst maintaining unshakeable loyalty to techno basics.

Dre’ama

Based in Johannesburg, Dre’ama has been behind the decks for more than a decade, blasting everything from psychedelic trance to techno music.

Ethereal

A newly formed progressive psytrance project based in Cape Town.

Fairly Odd

Formed in early 2022 through their love of music, the Fairly Odd duo from Cape Town have quietly been managing to cement themselves on lineups across the Mother City with their upbeat music.

Flower Power

Flower Power represents the Garden Route psychedelic trance scene, playing full-on music since 2016. More recently, she has started organizing events in the area too.

Hanél

H.A.N.E.L is no stranger to the local electronic music scene, wearing many hats as a festival owner, booking agent, lineup curator, producer and DJ.

HegChick

Formed around 2009, HegChick has been blasting psychedelic trance music for more than a decade. She is also involved with Red Eye Productions in Johannesburg.

Housewife

Formed in 2021, Housewife is based in Cape Town and plays House & Disco, Disco & House.

Illing

Started in 2015 and is currently a resident DJ of Toy Toy in Johannesburg.

Kay Faith

Kay Faith, is an award-winning engineer-turned record-producer, who’s worked with some of the biggest hip-hop artists in the country such as YoungstaCPT, Da Les and Maglera Doe Boy.

Jay Me

Founded in 2016, Jay Me is a disco and house DJ from Cape Town. Over the years, she has played some of the most iconic festivals in the country.

Kim Rupping

Originally from Johannesburg and now in Cape Town, Kim Rupping plays a range of minimal tech and dark minimal for the early hours of the morning.

Lady M

Formed over a decade ago, Lady M is a DJ, producer and label owner. Playing a range of techno and deep house, Lady M has also released on several international labels including Katermukke (GER).

Lady Lea

Passionate about making music, Lady Lea has been in the music and DJ industry for 26 years. She is also one of the original Divas on Decks members.

Lunch Money

Starting her journey in 2019, Lunch Money is based in Johannesburg and plays a range of psychedelic music, perfect for the dance floor.

Meek

Inspired by the divine feminine within the indie dance, dark disco, & retro house music genres, Meek’s sound is defined by distinct raving grooves to light-hearted melodies with memorable vocals & deep basslines in-between.

Mia

Starting her career at the young age of 18, Mia has played at many festivals and clubs around the country. Her style is deep, tech and commercial house music.

Mila Rose

Mila-Rose hails from the Mother City and with her she brings a sweet selection of tunes. Confined to no boxes, she likes exploring melodies of house, funk, disco and afro-tech.

Minx

Cara-Mi, known by her artist alias as Minx, started DJ’ing around 2012 at a beach bar where she honed her skills in reading the crowd and broadening her range in various mainstream styles such as Deep, Tech House & Minimal.

Misfidi

Bioengineer and scientist by day. A creature and DJ by night, known as MisfiDi.

Mother Tongue

Based in Pretoria, Mother Tongue plays dirty techno music, perfect for the dance floor.

Myzo

Originally hailing from Portugal, Myzo has become a regular feature at psytrance festivals for the last decade. She also performs under the alias TigerLili

Nataša

A new eclectic artist that mixes electronica, techno and house.

Paka

A newly formed duo by two friends, Paka play a range of acid and psychedelic inspired music.

Peyote

Currently signed to PsynOpticz records, DJ Peyote plays fantastic psychedelic trance music perfect for the dance floor.

Roz

Based in Johannesburg, we’ve had the privelage of seeing DJ Roz perform down in Cape Town, and she knows how to get the crowd moving with her selection of house and techno music.

Ri Mix

Fashion designer by day, Irene Soares has quietly been building up her craft as a DJ, playing at some of the best techno nights around Cape Town under her alias, Ri Mix.

Rusty

Starting her career in 2019, Rusty is a DJ based in Johannesburg that plays everything dirty, dark and delicious in the techno realm.

Saai

Mistress of her craft, Saai is an artist in the true sense of the word. Her musical ability is par excellence. Renowned on the Psy-trance scene, Saai has played at South Africa’s largest outdoor music festivals

Sara Love

One half of the Sacred Sun duo, Sara brings vibrant much-needed feminine energy to dance floor.

Satori

Satori started performing psychedelic trance way back in 2006 and still regularly features on festival lineups every season across the Garden Route and Cape Town.

Savanna Goldring

A DJ based in Cape Town, Savanna Goldring has been realising her musical skill and making her emergence in the electronic music/rave scene since 2016.

ScamAntrix

Performing for more than a decade, ScamAntrix delivers some of the best psychedelic sets – whether its psychedelic trance, dark progressive or even dark techno (as her alias, Toni L8lee).

StaShe

Fresh on the scene, StaShe is a Cape Town local who has commanded the ears of those who resonate with the melodies of Afro House & the driving bass of Progressive Melodic Techno.

Stay-C

Since 2017, Stay-C has been flying the drum & bass flag high in South Africa, performing solid DJ sets and producing her own music in the studio.

Stephy Longueira

Learning the art of mixing at the end of 2020, Stephy has managed to secure a number of bookings at festivals and clubs around Cape Town playing a range of deep house, funky house, tech house and more.

Tanya Vee

Tanya Vee is a South African artist with over a decade of experience as a performer, songwriter, singer and professional DJ.

Talia Zaken

With a desire to perform, Talia Zaken has quickly risen in the scene, performing all over the country, including an appearance over the border in Namibia.

Tune Raider

Tune Raider has been rocking the dance floors for more than two decades, and continues to deliver some of the best psychedelic trance sets – no matter if it’s day or night.

Uncle Waffles

Born in Swaziland, Uncle Waffles has been making waves in the industry at the young age of 22. Uncle Waffles is also an entertainer and a TV presenter.

Universal Space

A psytrance DJ from Johannesburg, Universal Space started her career in 2016 and has been delivering funky music on dance floors ever since.

Zinhle

DJ Zinhle started her career around 2004 and has received 2 SAMA nominations. She has also been a judge on Idols and is CEO of the alcohol brand Boulevard Nectar Rosè.

Zsa Zsa

Playing everything from dark disco to progressive house, Zsa Zsa has become a prominent figure in the Cape Town night life scene.

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