PAUSE MEETS:
Uncle Waffles
Africa’s next superstar talks about it all.
Interview & Words: Lynn Mongameli// @mongamelii
Photographer: Juwon Black// @Seyeisikalu
Waffle’s We Want To Party.
Undoubtedly Africa’s next superstar, Uncle Waffles is the 22-year-old DJ sensation who come to prominence after a video of her DJ’ing in front of a hyped crowd went viral. Although her meteoric rise to popularity may have you thinking she’s an overnight sensation, this girl is no one-trick pony.
Born Lungelihle Zwane in Swaziland, Uncle Waffles, like many kids on the continent came from humble beginnings. Before becoming the internet sensation we now know her as, the would-be DJ originally had aspirations of being an aeronautical engineer, but when she wasn’t able to attend school due to lack of funding, a young Waffles would turn her dreams to show business. Earmarked for the big screen, she hosted a music and entertainment show on Eswatini TV and it would be here that she would hone her skills as a DJ.
With an accession to stardom that’s built on faith, hustle and a little bit of luck, Uncle Waffles is a one-of-a-kind talent. Putting her faith to the test, she left her hometown to play a gig in South Africa with just three days worth of clothes, and three days is all it would take for Uncle Waffles to become the talk of the town, after setting the internet on fire with her electrifying set. And she hasn’t looked back since.
A boundary breaker, Uncle Waffles is part of a new generation of African artists who have been making it big in recent months. Waffles’ unwavering confidence, fashion sense and DJ skills have won her a swathe of global fans, including hip-hop superstar Drake, who followed the young DJ on Instagram and is often seen commenting on her IG Lives.
Now pushing ‘Piano internationally, I met with Uncle Waffles during one of her days off. Taking a much-needed break from a touring schedule that sees her jetting from London to Dublin before heading to Birmingham & Manchester. We sat in a busy lobby of the Hilton in Kensington and here, we would discuss it all – from her meteoric ascension, tribulations of social media trolls, her upcoming EP and of course, AmaPiano.
Welcome to London, I know it’s your first time here so how have you found it so far?
It’s very cold. It’s very very cold but I love the fact that we can leave at like 11 pm and walk around the streets. I’m a little scared, yes, but stuff is still open. I’ve never had that experience before, like ever.
Scared, why? What are you scared of here?
I’ve watched all the serial killer documentaries, so I know what happens here. I know what happens [laughs].
That’s a fair point – but London is relatively safe. I was lucky enough to be at your debut London show at Ministry of Sound. I was right there on stage behind you and the decks but you were super concentrating –
You know I can’t see the crowd when I’m DJ’ing, It’s a weird thing where I’m like completely oblivious, even when people call my name on the street. I can’t hear them. I think it’s a way of my mind protecting me. Like, I don’t feel like this whole thing is happening to me still, so.
But you were rocking at Ministry. First show internationally – well here in the UK. How was that for you?
It was great. It was really good – I was very scared. When you come with ‘Piano, generally when you go international, people only know the commercial songs of ‘Piano. You know, the ones that play on radio, the ones that play on Tik Tok
Mainstream AmaPiano?
Yeah, the mainstream ones. So when you come and you want to introduce a new type of ‘Piano you’re not necessarily going to always be received with open arms so I was very very scared of that. But the crowd was amazing, and they even knew the words, which I did not expect so yeah, I had a very very good time. What a warm welcome.
I’m not surprised, we have a very big Southern African community here
Really? See I did not know that. I did not expect that. When they were singing the words, I was like ‘what, did you guys read the lyrics and somehow understand the pronunciation’ like damn
Yeah, there’s a lot of us here man. Then you played Aroma the following day
Yeah. that didn’t go as well. Unfortunately.
What?! It looked great on socials!
Yeah of course, when I do my thing, I do my thing. But unfortunately, their sound did go at some point. But they got us back, and we were back in the game.
You know what, that’s standard for a lot of UK venues, they’re not used to isgubu [bass], so when the bass starts rocking the sound goes
Yes, yes! Because we were like please increase the bass, and they were like why? And we’re like for the .. for the experience. To feel the music.
100% – a DJ friend of mine who also played at Aroma, Charisse C. She’s spoken about this for a long time – telling London venues that we need to have bass when they’re booking AmaPiano DJs.
Yeah we really do.
But just to track back to the start – for someone who’s been living under a rock and doesn’t know who you are. How would you describe to them who you are and what you do?
My name is Lungelihle but the whole world knows me as Uncle Waffles, well the ones that do know me. I’m a DJ but I’m like, how do I explain this? I’m a DJ by profession obviously, I’m 21 and I’m from Swaziland, I’m not actually from South Africa. I took my bags one day, and I was like I’m going to chase this dream and I chased it and now here I am, you guys are listening to me and you actually know who I am. Which is crazy right?
Yeah, which means it worked right? It was worth packing your bags and going to South Africa from Swaziland.
Yeah, yeah! I always believed that you get more support away from home. As much as that sounds so horrible, you always get more support away from home
And then when you get on they’re like…
They’re like ‘yeah we’ve always known’ – like really? I think that’s the best way to describe me as Uncle Waffles. As an individual, I’m a nerd. I like to read.
See that’s really interesting to me because most people see you online and think different
You see, I’m not really that person. Uncle Waffles doesn’t exist in my real life. She only comes on when I play.
Alter ego vibes like Beyonce and Sasha Fierce?
Yass! Otherwise, in my regular life, I’m actually very awkward, and I get that all the time – that’s why it’s not easy for me to make friends. I’m very awkward, sometimes it’s like, people feel like [because] we’re in the same space so we should automatically be friends. But that doesn’t work with me. Like I’m going to be very awkward until I warm up to you. I’m an awkward person. All I do is read, sleep because 90% of my life I’m awake – like 3 days can pass with just 1 hour of sleep.
Like what’s going to happen we leave here, we’re going to fly straight from here to Cotton Fest, and I don’t fly well. I can’t sleep on flights and I have to sit with someone when I fly like it just doesn’t work hey, like when the plane starts to go I grab the chairs like I’m going to hold the plane like I’m going to somehow catch it.
That’s probably the best way to describe me.
I would have never guessed that outside of the DJ stuff, as you describe it, you’re a nerd.
Yeah, I’m a nerd. I love Sci-fi and all the nerdy things.
So what does a normal ‘off’ day for Waffles look like? When you’re not in a new city but back at home.
Realistically I actually don’t have off-days. What happens is, on a day where we maybe don’t have gigs or have one gig, the entire day I have to prepare for the gig. So if I had to do my nails and didn’t do them last week, I’d have to do them now. I have to go do my hair. So that’s 4 hours, and then we have to prepare outfits and usually my gigs are far away so we rarely gig in our proximity, we go. I can travel 12 hours for gigs, on the road. 6 hours going, 6 hours coming back, literally. So if we only have 1 gig, I still have to do studio till like 3 am, so yeah it’s a lot.
But today was different. we had breakfast and we got to chill and I really enjoyed that. But of course, during breakfast they made me study NFTs.
The dream wasn’t always to be a DJ, right? Initially, you were going to go into TV.
Yes so I was going to go into TV. You know when you’re young and you think ‘ yeah you know I’m smart’ I was actually going to go into aeronautics
Into what? What is aeronautics?
Aeronautical engineering. But you know life was like ‘you know what, you may be a little dumb’ but that’s okay, so that died immediately. So I went to do TV and of course, you know those are doors that are also hard to open
But you kind of made it happen
I did, I was on a little something and that’s actually where I learnt to DJ because that space had decks and a lot of DJs would come and I was like ‘hey, how do you do this thing? show me’ and initially, I was just learning to know but then a week turned into a month of like 8 hours every single day then it was 6 months of 8 hours every single day, to ‘okay am I really doing this? I think I am and then to a dream that I didn’t even know I had.
And actually going into TV happened because I was gonna go to school but unfortunately we didn’t have the means.
Which is a story for most kids at home
Literally! But I didn’t have the means, in a very weird way. My father, unfortunately, backed out a week before I was supposed to go to school and I had quit my job. I believe in faking it until you make it, so I was like ‘God, I really want to go to school’ so I’m going to actually quit and pray and fully put my energy into actually going to school.
So God would meet you halfway?
Yeah, because you actually need to take that step. So I took the step, and a week before I was supposed to go to school he was like actually, I’m not going to pay for this school. My heart was so broken, I was actually in a horrible place and then the opportunity to do the small show came, and here I am. Who would have thought?
God, I guess!
Right! He basically said let me give you something crazy, and here I am today.
The thing that usually happens, especially for you, is you’ve been grinding for a long time and then boom you go viral. Your trajectory just seems to skyrocket and suddenly everything starts saying ‘ oh overnight celebrity this one’ but it really wasn’t’ the case
It really really wasn’t the case, but also for like personal reasons, I’ve decided not constantly be explaining that because one thing about people, even when I go to spaces, some DJs are like ‘ oh you’re just a normal DJ but you just dance’ or ‘ you’re just a normal DJ but you just blew up and got followed by Drake’ things like that – ‘normal DJ but you’re pretty’ I get a lot of those comments, and I’ve realised that people have criteria of who is deserving of blessings but it’s a criterion based on their experiences like I feel you have you to go through this for you to be deserving of that – and I feel like no it’s fine, I can’t always be explaining to them that no actually, even coming to the gig where I blew up, I was actually playing for free.
Keep in mind I had quit my job, so I had taken the last money I had at that time and was like okay they have a gig for me and I’m gonna pack my stuff and I’m going to go. So when I came to South Africa and everything happened, I’d only packed bags for three days because to me, I was only going for three days. So like, imagine always having to explain that, like oh actually I left my country and all that – no. I can’t be always asking for a pity party, people are always going to have something to say and they’re going to receive this, however. Instead of just receiving it as ‘yo, that’s great for them,’ they’re just going to be like ‘no, you!’
And while we’re on that topic, you do catch a lot of flack online for one, being a female DJ in a very male-dominated industry but also and I know this from the outside looking in but social media, especially South African twitter is relentless…
Oh! Yeah! So the thing is with that. So I got a lot of love immediately, and then it turned in like a week. It was horrible, I cried at the airport at one point. They were discrediting everything. Unfortunately, there was a mix that was actually out there, I was so scared that day because it was the day right after the blow-up and already there was some negative energy coming so I was not okay, it wasn’t one of my best sets so people were using that to say that I actually didn’t deserve it. So what would happen is, I’d post a video of me having a good time somewhere, and someone would post something like ‘na she actually sucks, watch this’ or whatever the case may be. So initially it weighed on me, it definitely weighed on me but now it doesn’t because real life and what happens on Twitter is completely different. Twitter is fictional.
But it can get to you, no?
As an individual, yes. So the best advice I have for anyone out there is actually don’t have Twitter. I’m not on Twitter. I have a full running social media, I control everything that goes, but I don’t see anything so like the person I allocated my social media to I tell them, hey post this or that, but me I don’t see it. So if you’re on there talking about me, I don’t know. I don’t know, sorry [laughs]
And do you find that’s given you peace of mind? Because we see people feeding the trolls and going back and forth with people on there
And you know, when I was just an average person, with no social media presence and stuff like that I didn’t understand why influencers used to speak to only each other. Until, I remember when I was going through my first Twitter thing, we called Focalistic and he was like, he remembers an encounter he had as well while he was in Dubai and someone said something, and it was like I’m in Dubai but this person has completely hurt my feelings and they are sitting at home somewhere and then he was like what they’re going to do is eat away at you and eat away at where you are right now, and you won’t be able to fully experience it so don’t take it to heart, leave it. Ninety-nine per cent of the people on social media, who are celebrities or whatever the case may be, don’t control it. You don’t need it like you really don’t need that stress. I just see what I post – they ask me for a caption, or to respond here and there but what my Twitter does and all those things – I just see my numbers because obviously, I have to review my insights but otherwise no.
And it also doesn’t get to me, when they bring up the thong story or say people come on my Instagram – my Instagram I control – like when they come on my Instagram and are like ‘where’s the thong?’ In my head I’m like, ‘this is the 21st century, you’ve never seen a woman with a thong outside of her pants?”
I feel like you’ve taken that and made it your superpower of sorts
Yeah it’s mine, it’s my thing. And I always say that the video where you guys saw me originally wear that, the video was never supposed to blow up. It was something I was doing, it was something I was already doing. Why do you think I’m going to be someone else now because you guys know me. Please. Please!
I think you’ve handled that amazingly, and with that, there was something that came up today. I was listening to Podcast and Chill with Mac G and he actually said – and you’re going to be shocked by this – but he said, he thinks you’re a superstar. He actually said ‘probably one day you’ll be South Africa’s greatest export’
Really?! I didn’t know that. That’s really nice, and Mac G never says anything nice about me, so that’s really nice. Well damn!
Being that you’re at the genesis of your career, and you’re young – you’re 21. Hearing that kind of prophecy, from someone like Mac G who not only has a controversial status but is also quite cemented in the South African music industry, for him to say something like that, and put you in the mix with artists like Black Coffee, DJ Maphorisa and others, what does that mean to you? Does it bring about some pressure?
Erm. Just like I said, I’m still not in it. This thing isn’t happening to me. Sometimes I wake up and I think I was dreaming and it’s all going to be over. So when people are saying things like this, it’s very hard to take in but I’m so grateful because it’s a prophecy over my life and I receive it, like let this be! That would be like, damn! Damn! That’s actually so crazy as I think other people would probably be bigger than me, but yeah, damn!
As a DJ, everyone has something – like Coffee is very chill and doesn’t get too hype. Phori just vibes and might jump on the mic. What would you say is your calling card as a DJ? What’s your greatest strength?
I used to not see it till I had to start analysing myself. Unfortunately when you get to a place where the Twitter thing starts making you question what you actually do, so at some point I used to thoroughly analyse everything I did. So any video that was taken of me, I’d need to actually look and see what do people actually see there, and then I think my power comes in my actual entertainment value when it comes to the music. You can see that it’s genuine, like it’s very very genuine, nothing is scripted and you can see that everything you see is actually in that moment, even if it’s the same song. Like, I think it’s my entertainment value or my ability to express the music through me as well. Even if you’re looking from outside and you’re trying to see what song is playing, you’ll be like whatever song is playing there it’s really good.
I agree, and I don’t think I’ve seen a DJ interact with the crowd the way you do. I was standing behind you trying to catch the vibe, there was like a whole different party happening behind you.Would you say your success has been a blessing and a curse? Because it comes with everything that you want but it also comes with a lot of stress I’m guessing that you may not have anticipated.
Uhm, yes! Like I had to go from you’re a DJ just hustling trying to make it, to you’re a DJ who can play nine gigs in two days and has to fly out to another country so I immediately had to come into understanding the business, understand how the money is generating and understand that you have to build a team that loves you. Like as much as people have their advantages and disadvantages, you have to build a team that completely loves you, people that will genuinely dedicate their time – that’s why I’m so blessed to have my team, like my team are people who when this whole thing happened they took it as if it happened to them, like here they are, they dropped their lives to make sure that the brand I’m building is steady so I think that was the biggest thing.
But overall it’s like a blessing, I’m able to help my family, like things that my family was struggling with they can call me now and I can immediately take care of it. I’m very blessed that at 21, when she calls me now I don’t even think twice I’m like here, have it.
For someone who doesn’t know – what is the South African music scene like right? Because outside looking in, it looks like it’s rocking.
I think AmaPiano has resurrected the music scene where people can actually make money from music, like make real money where they can really live life with it. And also, because AmaPiano is a very collaborative space, it’s actually encouraged people in all genres to be collaborating. Like you never hear of ‘Piano beef, like you don’t hear of people beefing, what?! There’ll be ten people on a song, if you say something during the session and they like it, they’ll add it to the song – it’s just a collaborative space so I think it’s made people realise that actually, we can all co-exist like we can all be in the same genre, all bring different elements and all still be booked the same way and all still get the same money so I think that’s what is brought. And also, it’s made a lot of people take musicians more seriously because it’s like, actually, you can really generate something crazy. You’re actually valuable and I think that’s great. Artists now don’t feel like they really have this passion for music but can’t do it, it’s just like look at Phori over there, look at him.
We’ve been talking about it here in the UK for a while because we’re still trying to sell it to the masses and the old guard, but what is it about AmaPiano that’s allowing it to break through internationally? Because South Africa has had other genres before like Deep House, Gdom, or Kwaito
It’s because there’s no alternative version of ‘Piano, I think that’s what makes it unique. Like there’s nowhere else you’re going to get ‘Piano the way you get ‘Piano in South Africa. The moves, the entertainment value, like when you go on Tik Tok you see so many people trying to copy the moves, or create dances and all things like that and I think that’s something that never really happened around music in South Africa.
But we had Pantsula style
Yeah we had pantsula but pantsula was hard, it was really hard and then you have AmaPiano which is like these small little moves and it’s completely different and relatable, especially for the young kids who look at it and go ‘yo that looks so fun!’ When you see Grooves Scenes, like the video that went viral, it looks like these people are transcending and people want that, like did they get there – I want that and that’s why AmaPiano is great.
We recently lost a heavyweight in the music industry with Riky Rick’s passing, and his championing of youth and artists in South Africa is well documented. What gap does his passing leave, not just in music but in the culture in general? And also, what should we take from his legacy?
The culture of welcoming new artists without looking at them as competition. One thing Riky did, which was a week into my blow up, he came to support my gig. He came with his wife and he was like ‘yo, this is the girl. This is the one, she’s going to do so great,’ and it was so amazing because that was my very first encounter with him, and then, of course, the video came, and that came up because he was actually taking us home you know. The next week he invited me to his Remy Martin event and put me in the Remy Martin books, so he was someone who welcomed you to his table, no matter what.
He welcomes you with so much love, as much as a lot of people wanted to twist it and say he just wanted clout but he didn’t need anymore clout, he did not need anymore. He didn’t need to get any bigger because he was the biggest so he left a whole in bringing people together, now there’s a whole in who will be there when you’re coming up to be like ‘yo, I believe in you, come let me try and put you on.’ And especially for my boys, Kai and Zeus, he left a huge hole in their lives because they do CottonFest together and they were just brothers in general, that was their person so like their struggling obviously, and everyone is but in his legacy we should try to imitate him in coming together and just welcoming people into our environment. If you see someone coming up if you can actually help, do that, it won’t take anything away from you. Remy Martin is not going to leave him and come work with me, like no, that won’t happen instead they’ll bring us all together – so that’s the main thing.
I love that. I always said Riky was our Pharrell. The music, the fashion, the culture – he was the bridge between the older heads and the youth, and his passing is really going to impact a lot of people.
Literally, yes! One-hundred per cent. I think when CottonFest comes it’ll be clear
Let’s talk about your music. I was lucky enough to be next to you when you debuted your song at Ministry of Sound. Playing your first official song, in Ministry of Sound, one of the most revered dance clubs in the world – what does that mean for you as a new artist?
Playing my music in any space and having it be received is like damn. It’s an amazing feeling, the first time I played it I was so scared, like damn how are people going to receive this? But then I also knew that my power is in how I sell it, so if you see in the videos – I really really really feel it, because how it’s received is amazing.
And the process of making music, how has that been for you?
We had to jump straight into it because we decided that actually, we want my brand to be bigger than a DJ but still being a DJ like the reality is you’re a DJ but we want to have a catalogue, we want you to show a part of yourself but through your music as well. The process of making music is a whirlwind, some days I hate it, some days I love it, some days it needs two weeks for me to go back every day and listen to it. Like all we do is listen to my music, every day, and I nit-pick at it like no, this I don’t like.
Would you say that’s good or bad?
It’s very bad, it’s very very bad because I will break the song apart until it’s a new song – if someone doesn’t say actually the song is fine, the song is fine – I will break it apart until it’s a whole different thing like we’re working on a catalogue so there’s a whole number of songs we’re working on, and every day I listen and I’m like ‘actually I don’t like this,’ and they’re like ‘but it’s a whole verse’ And I’m like ‘yeah the whole verse, we have to start afresh.’
You’re a self-professed Hip-Hop head, so are we going to hear you rapping or spitting some bars on these new releases?
You know what, I so wish, I so wish I had the ability. I won’t lie, I tried hopping on the mic here and there, I won’t lie to you I’ve been like ‘this one, definitely I can do this one, let me show you guys,’ and life showed me. But yeah, maybe, maybe just a little something to be like hey, I’m versatile. I’m a versatile Queen.
So obviously we have to talk about fashion. Your personal style, how would you describe it?
I would describe my style as like, it’s hoochie-wear. It’s hoochie, it’s giving hoe, it’s giving bad bitch. That’s exactly what it’s giving, it’s giving someone who dresses the way they want, no matter what, like I will never be bothered. You go to places and people give me looks and I’m like don’t be too scared, it’s just underwear, don’t be too scared
Why do you think you catch so much backlash from that?
Because people want to sexualise you when they don’t have your consent, so people want to sexualise you when you’re covered up. They don’t want to sexualise you when you’re embracing your body and yourself because to them it’s like ‘you’re doing too much,’ like when they were posting the pictures of washing lines with the underwear and the caption would be ‘Uncle Waffles’ house,’ in my head I’m like exactly! Precisely! Make sure they go outside, get some fresh air because we’re doing a lot of dancing, hey. So like they don’t understand when someone is themselves, but it’s not meant to please you and when they keep talking about it and it doesn’t change that also frustrates them like ‘You’re still doing it, why?’ Just because I haven’t given you consent and I’m doing what I want, you can’t sexualise me because you want to open my pants and see the underwear yourself for you to be like ‘no actually it’s fine for you to wear a thong,’ but when I wear it out, it’s like it’s not mine. I think that’s the main reason, just because I’ve removed the whole ‘you can’t sexualise me,’ because baby, I’m hot! I’m doing it myself, don’t worry about that. If it bothers you, just look away, it’s very simple to just not look.
Like honestly, why do you care? To the point that someone actually made a thread explaining it. But I’m just like, explaining what? And everyone who was defending me at the time was also catching smoke like ‘oh you also got famous because you sexualised yourself,’ but it’s you guys demonising someone for being themselves as they are sexualising themselves, because of how you view people.
With your style, you give me Aaliyah vibes – is that the inspiration?
Do you know how often I get that? I get that every single day of my life, and let me tell you, I’m scared of flying so Kai said to me how you died in your other life is what you’re scared of in your real life and I stayed up for three days thinking about that, like what do you mean?
I even got that at like a random store, I was buying something and this lady was like ‘you’re giving me very Aaliyah vibes’ and I’m like girl please don’t say this! But it’s actually an amazing thing, it’s actually amazing because I love her style, I love who she was and she’s a legend, so baby, I receive! I love that! So I don’t mind, and I think partially in my heart I’m actually embracing it. Sometimes when I dress I’m like hmm, Aaliyah, yeah I see it.
So when it comes to brands, what’s your go-to?
Do you know what a cheapskate is? It’s me. I’m a whenever I see something nice girl, I don’t have a main store I go to, if I see something nice, I’m getting it. Even if it’s at the whackest store or the best store, actually let me not say that because cheapskate is the first thing. So whenever I see anything nice, I just get it.
No way. To date, what has been your craziest, most expensive or ridiculous purchase?
You’re going to be very disappointed. The most I’ve ever spent on anything, on myself, was a bag and it was only R9,000 (£500). Because I’m a cheapskate, and it took me three days to go buy that. I went to the store every day thinking should I buy this until Kai came and was like just buy the bag, you haven’t been sleeping for like three weeks this is a good reward for your work, so yeah.
But I guess you’ve managed to keep your style very organic, most people would be head-to-toe in Gucci or Louis Vuitton or Balenciaga all over. However, you seem to love black Air Force Ones. Why?
Yes. It’s because I hit licks. I hit licks! Those are the shoes that when you’re going to do something very serious. When I’m going to do something serious, black Air Forces! You can never go wrong. I need to scare people a bit because I’ve had a lot of encounters, I’ve had someone try to choke me at a gig, there’s even video on the internet. She yanked me, I’ve had people try to bite me, pull my hair or steal my stuff. Unfortunately, when you go to some gigs, it’s in the hood. I had three bouncers – one next to me, one behind me and one in front of me and when I was passing the only way to go was through the crowd and at some point I had to curl into a ball because people were trying to pull me and bouncers couldn’t stop them. Then you hear Kai coming in with claps because they were pulling everything!
With the fashion though, do you ever see yourself doing more with that?
March is going to be a very eventful month, we have something coming. Something very very good, but this one has to be a complete surprise because I’m going to take the thing that they were trying to point at me and show you real things are done! I’m going to show you something crazy with it, definitely. Stay tuned.
So what does the evolution of Uncle Waffles look like? Because you can’t be an Uncle forever, we’ve seen DJs like Black Coffee who have managed to transcend being pigeonholed as African DJs and play in Ibiza. So what comes next for you?
I want Uncle Waffles to always remain a DJ but I also want her to be everything in every space, like every space where I feel like I’d do a good job so I’m looking into possibly having a reality show because I actually feel like I’m very disconnected from the people who follow me because when everything happened I decided to step back and took a huge part of my personality out of my social media and my interactions so I think a reality show to give people a glimpse into yo, I’m actually a person, actually a pretty cool person and pretty funny too – Trevor Noah who? So to show a side of me that goes through emotions, sometimes the emotions carry me, but also the music side of me. Like I’m trying to make Uncle Waffles a complete brand where you can get a bit of everything but it’s genuinely me. Not when people forcefully go into other avenues because they have the power to, it all has to be things that are genuinely me. Not just chasing the bag. So yeah, Waffles, hopefully by God’s grace is going to be a superstar, and superstar that people genuinely relate to, like genuinely relate to.
And what does success look like for you?
Success for me, and this is going to be so cliche, but success to me looks like buying my mum a house. She made a lot of sacrifices and she wasn’t able to do a lot of things that she wanted to do for herself, so I think my definition of success is being like ‘Mom, here’s your home. It’s yours.’
Stream Uncle Waffles’ Red Dragon EP
