Johannesburg 05 September 2019 - Boiler Room and Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky, a Pernod Ricard brand launched and announced South Africa as the next stop on its 2019 True Music tour which will touch down in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town from Thursday 19th September for three amazing showcases. Promising to Take A Stand For True Music, the project is part of Ballantine’s commitment to push True Music scenes forward and support artists, fans, crews and communities around the world, by spotlighting the home-grown talent redefining their local scenes.
South Africa is known for its vibrant musical history, from soul and jazz in the 60s, to kwaito and house in the 90s. Today is no different, with each city home to a myriad of thriving underground scenes and sounds, spearheaded by pioneering artists who are weaving self-
expression, fashion and performance through their music. By working in close collaboration with local innovators to host line-ups that feature emerging and established talent from each city it visits, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music tour will shine a light on these diverse, inclusive communities and share them with the world.
The first stop on the multi-city tour is Johannesburg. On Thursday 19th September,Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will bring together a lineup of artists creating the future sounds of South Africa within the alternative, experimental and LGBTQ+ communities; these are the artists redefining and reinterpreting the established sounds of kwaito, gqom, afropop, hip hop and house. Performing live on the night; Sho Madjozi, one of South Africa's brightest stars, SA’s poet and rapper Busiswa, buzzing electronic duo Stiff Pap, DJ, performance artist and activist Queezy, rising DJ star Doowap, and founder of Vogue Nights Jozi, Lelowhatsgood.
For the first time, on Friday 27th September Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will head to Durban for the ultimate Gqom line-up. This limited capacity show will be headlined and hosted by pioneer DJ Lag, and his hometown event Something for Clermont. DJ Lag propelled the Durban sound way beyond the city, straight into the international music zeitgeist; Beyoncé recently enlisted him for Lion King track 'My Power'. DJ Lag’s Something For Clermont, taking place in the township he was born and raised in, features a handpicked line-up of gqom stalwarts and those he recognises as the future generation of the genre.
The line-up will be announced early September.
On Wednesday 23rd October Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will host the third and final instalment of the South Africa tour in Cape Town, celebrating a city that prides itself on an eclectic musical landscape with diverse experimentation of underground hip hop, kwaito and electronic music.
This unrivalled line-up of the city’s emerging hip-hop and rap artists is not to be missed. Hosted by Crayons, one of the most talked about streetwear brands and party promoters in the underground scene, the line-up features the artists leading a new-era of the city’s hip hop scene. The line-up will be announced in late September.
Via video content and interviews with the artists and wider True Music community in each city, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s aims to tell the stories of these boundary-breaking music communities and the opportunities they are carving for themselves to the wider world.
Following the tour, the True Music project will continue to support these scenes through a soon-to be-announced initiative created in collaboration with one of the communities the tour has visited.
RSVP for the show here and find out more on True Music,
