Starting out, she couldn’t have imagined herself being one of Africa’s leading DJs.
There was not much vision for her when she was starting out in the industry 20 years back.
Despite there being very few to no female DJs in the mainstream, she soldiered on.
From Jika Majika days, she’s made the circle bigger from behind the decks.
And now in 2024, she clocks two decades in the industry and like the lady leader that she is, she’s celebrating in style.
In a catch-up with Drum, DJ Zinhle says that all she knew when she started DJing was that there was an opportunity to explore.
“I do know that I felt that there was an opportunity in the industry for me to make a mark. I saw that there weren't a lot of female DJs at the time, and I just thought maybe this is a great opportunity for me to get into the industry and see what could happen. Eventually with time when I realised that this was working out for me, my vision was then to literally grow the industry so that it becomes credible because I just felt like with just me and Cindo in the industry as female DJs, we didn't give our industry credibility.”
To open up the industry and build up credibility, she founded a DJing school where she taught more women to find their feet behind the decks.
Read more | DJ Zinhle talks love, music and what got her through lockdown
Within no time, she was shooting for the stars with not just DJing but also producing hit songs alongside the likes of Busiswa, Rethabile and Cici.
Although she also had a hitsong with Lloyiso titled Indlovu, her forte is collaborating and shaking the charts with female vocalists.
“I've just always been passionate about bringing women forward. I love women winning, I love to see women do incredible things. So, this is something that I just committed myself to from when I started. I always work with upcoming DJs.
“But also like as a businessperson and a strategic person, I think it just works for me to work with upcoming females because they are readily available for shows and for commitments. It's hard when you work with an artist that is established because they've got their own commitments, their own things to do. So, it's just a balance of my passion and strategy to work with females,” she adds.
Not only does the award-winning DJ and producer love being a girl’s girl but also a girl mom. In her reality show, she let the world in on how she sometimes struggles to strike a balance between motherhood, being a businesswoman and the demanding music industry.
Over time though, she’s worked on it.
“I just have to take it one day at a time. And I think that's the biggest lesson for me about motherhood, that we don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to do your best.
“I always think of my parents. My parents had four kids. They must have been going through the most because they also didn't know what they were doing. They had their kids and now suddenly you're supposed to be the best mom there ever were. So that's why I try and invest my time in just making sure that I give my children the best. I spend time with them. I think the biggest lesson for me was just realising that I have to spend time with my kids in their world instead of forcing them to be part of my meetings and my schedule.”
The 41-year-old businesswoman adds that she’s allowed herself to be a child in her motherhood and always make time to have fun with Asante and Kairo.
For someone who didn’t know a thing about DJing as a child, she says she remains in awe of how much she’s achieved. Her highest highs in her career though include traveling the world and witness the love from her supporters at her shows during performances.
“There is nothing that's been more fulfilling than making a song and then hearing people sing it back to you. In terms of the lowest lows, living your life publicly means even your lows are low publicly. Living them out publicly is something that I've accepted as part of my life. Obviously losing the father of my child and a lot of other things that have happened while I'm in the industry are things that I would never wish on anyone.”
One thing she’s learned to master though is to fail forward.
“I feel like the reason I've been able to have such a long career is because I've been able to respect my relationships and commitments, which is sometimes rare to find in the industry. As soon as people make it, they easily forget their relationships and their commitments.”
Read more | 'I find it hard to pretend' - DJ Zinhle shares why she's so real and open on Unexpected
In making her music, she’s intentional in making them sound and feel like prayers and after Umlilo, Mdali follows in those tracks.
"It's always been my prayer. Every time I pray, I always apologise for the times when I trusted my own will and when I just felt like I didn't have enough faith, the answer for me is always with the higher power. I just make sure I make music that I love. So that if anyone else doesn't like it, then at least I love the music. So, I trust God and my ancestors a lot when I make music.”
To celebrate the craft, the woman of many talents will be celebrating #20YearsOfDJZinhle with a concert.
“I'm not someone who would have done concerts before. I don't even do like birthday parties. It's so crazy. I just thought, 20 years is a milestone and so I wanted to use the 20 years’ experience and relationships built over the years to do something iconic.”
After the celebration at Nasrec, Johannesburg on 9 August and aiming for the third decade of her career, she says she’d like to see herself grow in her business. Contrary to popular belief though, she says she has no desire to go international because she wouldn’t be able to handle traveling so much with her children.
“I think it's always good to know what works for you and what doesn't work for you. International shows for me, I've tried them, they don't work for me. I would love to just continue to perform every day. [The fact that] I can still perform as a 40 something-year-old lady is a blessing for me. I'm going to continue to work on music and my dream is to obviously reopen the DJ school.”
