Talented DJ Oats' musical odyssey thus far

Gasebalwe Seretse
Correspondent | Wednesday June 19, 2013 00:00

 

The 26-year-old from Matsiloje told Showbiz in an interview that he has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry thus far.'When I entered the industry back in 2007, I didn't know some of the tricks of the industry and therefore I failed to adequately promote my debut album, The Rebirth,' said the DJ.He is however grateful for the hit single off the album, Barolong, which made many in the music industry sit up and take notice of him.According to the multi-talented DJ who also happens to be a producer and a songwriter of note, the following year, he was invited to be one of the Batswana artists to contribute towards the All Kasi mixtape namely, All Kasi FM contributing the single, Fly.

However, the feeling that he had not adequately promoted The Rebirth kept nagging him, forcing him to set up his own production company, Professor Oats Entertainment in 2009, which has its own studio.DJ Oats went on to collaborate with Sidney 'Boogie Sid' Nzala on his track, Fever Pitch: The Next Generation, which did well on the market.'In 2009, I also worked with House Junkies on their House Expression compilation on the single, Give Me Your Love. The Back to School crew also invited me to contribute a single towards their compilation towards the end of the same year, which I did,' he said adding that he also released another single, called Girlfriend in the same year.

2010 was also a busy year for DJ Oats as he continued to work with other artists such as DJ Fondo and Dr Phoenixx in their respective projects.In the meantime, his single, Stronger, in which he collaborated with Nasson Motlhatlhedi, impressed Baainar Records in neighbouring South Africa and they acquired the release licence for the track.

In 2011, DJ Oats collaborated with La Timmy on the hit single, Kave Chivombe.  His working relationship with Baainar Records continued and some of his works feature in a number of 2011 compilations by the record label.However, it looks like 2012 brought out the best in the DJ in that he released his runaway hit, Bukalanga, which earned him international recognition.'In July last year, international DJ and producer, Bhoddi Satva put the single in his top 10 international hits in the online house store, Trax Source. French DJ Rocco, who also happens to be a respected entertainer worldwide included it in his playlist during the Botswana 48 hours Farm Festival last year and it was the only local track that he played,' he said proudly adding that Thato 'DJ Fresh' Sikwane also once opened his show on South African radio station, 5FM with the same track. Baainar Records has also recognised the talented young man by signing him up as one of their producers and Sounds of Baainar Vol. II was mixed by him in the same year.

'This year, I have done a number of remixes for Baainar whose artists are mainly based in South Africa. One of the stables artists whose album I helped produce is Nkhokhi,' he said.According to DJ Oats, one of the highlights of his career is working with the revered DJ Gouveia 'DJ Gouveia' Mutasa on his show on RB 2.The DJ, who also happens to be a nephew of the late famed radio presenter, Phillip Moshotle said that some of the local entertainers he has utmost respect for include DJs Crispin, T-Man and Otis.

He asserted that he does not see competition as a threat adding that he is always willing to learn from other DJs.'I have mentored and continue to mentor a good number of artists in this country at Professor Oats entertainment and this year, I hope give many upcoming artists a platform,' he said. DJ Oats is set to release his follow-up album, House of University Year One, which will feature among other tracks Bukalanga, Stronger and Wakanaka next month.  He will also launch the single Ngoma Yorira off the album next Monday (June 24).