Cover Story – Brotha Asanti
Brotha Asanti is a dynamic house music producer & DJ. Passionate about the power of storytelling through art, in particular music, a lover of music and now a hit maker of it.
Brotha Asanti has always been a massive fan of house music. It all started with his love for deep sounds of the big apple (NYC) and the Chicago house sounds, so needless to say his inspiration comes from the likes of Louie Vega, Dennis Ferrer, Honey Dijon & Todd Terry to name a few. Growing up in Southern Africa, where he developed a taste for those rich melodies from the motherland, ultimately shaped his understanding of house music.
“Music is a spiritual experience with the ability to change one’s mood and influence behaviour”, he believes that music has the power to speak volumes as it is one of the highest forms of self expression.
Through his beats and sets Asanti invites his audience on a journey with him and feel what he feels through music. As he puts it “No Matter Where You Go Music Is Always Within You”
1. Who is Brotha Asanti and how did your love for music come about?
Interesting question, I’ve always loved music mostly as a consumer, I guess my love for music started in primary school, I was involved in drama and music so that kind of just encouraged that whole situation. In high school I was part of an acapella group and we sang a lot! When I moved to Australia I had a professional job and my life was still all music but mostly as a consumer. Five years ago I started my career as DJ and ended up trying out producing and the rest is history.
2. We know you’re based in Australia but where is Brotha from and how has that place ultimately inspired what he does now?
I am from Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is my birthplace, my dad is Zulu and my mum is Ndebele. Growing up we used to listen to a lot of South African music, there is some similarities in both South African and Zimbabwean music and especially people on the southern side of Zimbabwe they tend to follow South African tends a lot. The music I make now is very much inspired by my past events growing up and I guess people that I met along the way.
3. How is the house music scene in Australia and how have you adapted?
The House music scene in Australia is mostly Electronic Dance Music and some of the hard-core stuff like techno music, in terms of Afrohouse there’s only A few artists and producers who create music in that genre. When I first started there was not a lot of Afrohouse music. I create the music that I want to hear as a result of my dad pushing me to stay true to myself and in a way that helped me adopt my own style.
4. Do you know of Amapiano? As a producer, what are your thoughts on this sound that is going global & would you jump on it?
Yes, Amapiano is one the greatest genre’s ever created and I think I know how the movement started ages ago with Kabza De Small’s earliest releases, as a producer I knew he created a sound different from what we are used to and I was very inspired as I am all for unique sounds. I love what the Amapiano guys are doing therefore I would definitely love to collaborate with an Amapiano artist.
5. Chat to us about your latest project, interesting title!
My most recent project is called Beautiful Nightmare and it was inspired by the emotions I went through during lockdown and the way the Music Industry is. I used this new project as therapy because I lost some friends during the pandemic and they put me in a state of reflection and that’s what the whole album is about.
6. Why did you choose to keep the EP limited to only 3 Tracks, Can we expect a deluxe with more tracks?
It felt like a great idea to only have three tracks because I’m currently working on an album and those were the tracks that I was happy with at the time of release but you can definitely expect more new music in the coming few months.
7. Who are some of the artists you are currently listening to / who are in your Playlist?
I listen to a lot of South African artists like Black Coffee and some American house produces like Denis Ferrera.
8. If you weren’t based in Australia, where would you be in the world?
If I wasn’t in Australia I would definitely be in South Africa maybe somewhere near Zanzibar but I know I love travelling and as a result I don’t know if I could be fixed to one address or one location.
9. Which country do you think receives house music well and why?
I’m having a couple of conversations in regards to ideas from South Africa and I’m very much open to the idea of working with some South African musicians, pretty much that’s the dream and a few other musicians around the world.
10. Any African / South African artist would you like to collaborate with?
Someone that I wanted to work with since I started producing would be Monique Bingham, she’s got a powerful voice and a few other artists from South Africa as it has too much talent.
11. We saw you had a Live with fellow House DJ & Producer Citizen Deep, Could we expect a Collaboration?
Yes, we had a quick live on Instagram which was a dope session, we discussed a lot about music and our aspirations. I am open to collaborate should the stars align.
12. Did the Pandemic inspire you to work even harder than before?
The pandemic was a good time to just focus, because time did slow down and it enabled me to focus on the things that I wanted to do and the goals that I wanted to achieve.
13. How do you get ready for a set?
The way I get ready for my set is I start off by Mokoena I guess the song is in my head, what song does not goes with Mokoena, it is the vibe I’m going for and I guess I always have a few songs up my sleeve which will help me get to that point where I just play according to my feelings. I don’t have a set routine for preparation, it’s just depends on the event and the vibe on the day.
14. What can Fans expect from Brotha in 2022?
2022 has been huge already, we’ve had a few appearances on TV with my band Soul Electric as well as a feature at the famous Saint Kilda festival, we have a few other gigs lined up and currently working on an album. 2022 you can expect to see a lot more of Brother Santilla and my band as well.
15. Finally, When are you coming to South Africa?
When am I coming to South Africa? That is the question – I’d like to know myself but soon, hopefully in a couple of months when everything slows down.
Connect with Brotha Asanti
Socials:
IG: @Brotha_Asanti
FB: Brotha Asanti
Additional links:
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