DJ Riley's Misfits Boombox to boom again

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Tuesday January 22, 2013 00:00

The up and coming DJ uploaded the maiden mixtape on Sound Cloud on New Year's Eve and said the response has been incredible, prompting him to start working on the next one.The rap compilation contains tracks by Namibian artists Lee Anne Abrahams, Metamorph, White Ink, Zambia's Word Effect, Willy Paul of Kenya, The New Born of Nigeria and South Africa's Jay.Botswana's youthful Hip Hop outfits X-Calibre and Rebirth also feature on the mixtape.The ground-breaking compilation was themed One God, One Gospel, One Continent, One Voice.

'People will hear you loudly when you speak with one voice as many as you are, proclaiming God's name,' the young DJ explained.The Misfits visionary also said the mixtape combines the best Hip Hop gospel songs in the continent.  All the songs were recorded by the artists from 2011 to 2012 and DJ Riley revealed that the second edition will carry songs done in 2013.'The next one will be out in July and it will be different because I have made beats and given them to the artists I'm working with,' he told Showbiz. DJ Riley will work with the same artists from the first mixtape with a few additions.  Malawian trio of Lawi, KBG and David Kalilani together with Kenyan Daddy Owen and Zimbabwe's Ill Ceey are the new recruits.

'The standard I used to select these artists is the quality of their Hip Hop - I looked at whether it can impact people's lives as well as whether people can relate to it or not,' he said.He tied in the various artists through friends who recommended them.'I have friends in different countries so I would talk to them and find out about rap artists in their countries.  The rappers would then refer me to their contacts in other countries.'It took the Molepolole-born DJ two weeks to draw up the concept and a month to compile the tracks for CD as the songs were already recorded.'All I did was put in my jingles.'

The July CD will take longer as the artists are working on the beats from scratch.  The CD will be sold in countries represented in the compilation. The 22-year-old started deejaying while he was still in high school.  He credits his stint at Trail fm for sparking his interest in pursuing Deejaying.The Spirit-Filled 2012 Gospel Awards Best Upcoming nominee also said the tours by American musicians in the past two years exposed him to the world of gospel deejaying.  DJ Riley has a lot of respect for American rapper Lecrae who was in the country two years ago. He also follows Kenya's DJ Fresh and the American duo of DJ Exclusive and DJ P-Dogg, who was part of the 2011 Unashamed Tour to Botswana.