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Johannesburg - Seasoned musicians are opting for amateur dancers to star in their videos for their new releases, much to the chagrin of professional choreographers.
Award-winning DJ and record producer Black Coffee was first to break ranks with the traditional approach to sourcing professional dancers for music video shoots, after challenging fans to post home-made videos of themselves dancing to his music.
He then used cellphone video clips posted by fans for his popular videos.
Now, the East London-born soul house DJ and producer, Mabi Ntuli – popularly known as Mobi Dixon – is taking this one step further, having invited fans and up-and-coming choreographers and dancers to post their cellphone video clips on #BhutizaChallenge for a chance to feature in the new video for his hit song Bhutiza.
He plans to invite the best to join him in the filming process.
Listen to Bhutiza here:
On the perfect song
Dixon tells City Press that he is still searching for “the perfect song”.
This despite the award-winning DJ having made it on the charts several times with hits such as Ezizweni – featuring Afrosoul muso Berita – and Trigger, featuring sultry vocalist Inga Hina.
His new single, Bhutiza, features Nichume Siwundla.
In 2015, Dixon released the hit single City Rains, featuring talented soft-rock artist M.que. The song saw him achieve fame as a house music DJ and producer.
That was just the beginning for the ambitious artist, who says he wants to give a chance to up-and-coming talent and work with as many new musicians in Africa as possible.
The plan is not only to expose new talent, but also to see his profile and music grow across the continent.
On making music
Dixon started writing songs and poetry as a youngster and later began producing a variety of music beats.
“I wanted to take a different approach to house music and show people that I have different skills,” he says, adding that he has labelled some of his sound Tribal Soul because he enjoys mixing Afrocentric and tribal music influences.
Dixon claims that people often typecast him as a deep house DJ, but he counters this, saying he will always explore different genres when it comes to making music.
This is why his Bhutiza offers a different sound and feel from his previous creations, he adds.
“I want to restore our African culture and heritage through my music.”
Siwundla says he is doing just this. “Working with Mobi Dixon is so interesting and eye-opening for me,” she says, crediting the deejay for teaching her a whole lot about music.
