The rise and rise of Nite Freak DJ

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter

WHEN one asks the ordinary man on the street who they count among the country’s most popular musicians, probably few would mention the name Nite Freak DJ.

When all is said and done, one cannot blame them for their ignorance of the Barbourfields-bred performer. At parties, in clubs and in kombis, Zimbabweans are constantly bombarded with music from popular names such Jah Prayzah and Winky, artistes who have managed to win over the hearts and ears of their countrymen by dominating both the airwaves and the charts.

These are now seasoned artistes who, despite their relatively young age, have managed to carve out fanbases that are fiercely loyal to them, a testament to their sustained excellence over a lengthy period of time. However, a look at numbers on Spotify, one of the biggest online streaming services in the world with over 527 active monthly users, tells a different story.

On that platform, Jah Prayzah commands an impressive 120 536 monthly listeners, with Dzima coming in as his most streamed song, at 370 298. On the other hand, Winky D has 47 621 monthly listeners, with his song Ngirozi listened to at least 370 928 times.

As popular as these artistes are however, their numbers are pale in comparison to Nite Freak. The young Bulawayo DJ, born Bheki Mabhena, possesses 1 255 407 monthly listeners on the streaming platform, with that number growing by the day. One of his songs, the Premier Gaou Remix, has been listened to over 10 million times, while two other songs hover around 2 million listens.

Simply put, Nite Freak’s numbers on various platforms put a lot of the country’s biggest artistes to shame, making him one of the most listened to artistes from the continent. A testament to this fact is that, the young DJ’s music has been playlisted by most of the elite DJs in deep house and Afro Tech.

From Black Coffee to Themba and Diplo, Nite Freak’s music has become a staple in the playlists of DJs who make eye-watering sums of money playing in dance friendly stages around the world.

Nite Freak has thus changed the tune of many regarding local DJs or house music producers, reversing a trend of Zimbabwean wheel spinners basing their sets on hand-me-down tracks from South African acts. In Nite Freak’s case, it is the other way round, as he has become the one favoured by Mzansi’s world famous DJs.

While Nite Freak’s achievements have flown under the radar, the lucrative world of dance music has been listening and listening intently. It is perhaps no wonder that the young DJ has spent the last few months on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Venues in Spain, France, Greece, Portugal among others have played host to a young DJ whose star is constantly on the rise.

As he continues to give the world a taste of the excellence he constantly cooks up in his modest studios in Bulawayo, Nite Freak is breaking ground that had so far been left undisturbed by the country’s urban acts. While the country’s young urban musos also go on tour once in a while, it is undeniable that most of their shows are attended by Zimbabwean expatriates yearning for a nostalgic taste of home. It is perhaps for this reason why their music has a modest following on streaming platforms that are expected to be not only a reflection of their worldwide reach, but also provide much needed improvements to their wallets through royalty payouts.

Nite Freak has become a standard bearer for the city’s burgeoning deep house and afro tech scene, which has been impressively growing over the last few years, with events such as the Garden of House showing that there is now a paying crowd for more “mature” sub-genres of dance music.

Singlehandedly, the young DJ is also changing perceptions of what it means to be a DJ from Bulawayo.

Whenever one talks of touring groups, Bulawayo has always contributed more than its fair share.

However, artistes that leave the country’s borders, have historically always been those from more traditional artforms like imbube or mbaqanga. Rarely, have artistes from “younger” genres ever taken centre stage outside the country.

DJs are perhaps the most abused performers on the local scene, with some club owners sometimes notoriously reimbursing unfortunate performers with merely a meal after a heavy night’s work.

For all his recent groundbreaking achievements, Nite Freak remains a colourful figure that is seemingly unshaken by his rise to fame, despite his relative anonymity at home.

“I don’t have a bucket list at the moment, I am still trying to process everything that’s happening now. I am sure the universe will continue giving, we’ll see who I work with next,” he said in an interview before leaving for his tour.

In the past, the young DJ has spoken of his desire to unite the world with music, destroying all imaginary lines of race and ethnicity.

“My main reason to venture into music was because I had a dream of seeing the world as one strong entity where race, language and ethnicity are not considered. Music is a universal language and it has the power to heal, comfort and excite people in different situations. I knew that it was possible to be achieved through music hence my reason of starting this journey,” he said.

As his star continues to soar, Nite Freak continues to get closer to achieving his dream of a world united by his earthy and bewitching house tunes.