At this point, everyone knows “Jerusalema” even if they don\u2019t know they know it. The track has become a global phenomenon, touching all aspects of the music world from viral TikTok dance videos to record breaking global Shazam charts. Receiving the remix treatment from African Giant, Burna Boy, getting shoutouts from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accumulating over a billion streams, and winning the African Entertainment Awards Song of the Year, are among a few of the song\u2019s many accolades. Less is known, however, about the man behind the sound. At just 25 years old Kgaogelo Moagi, aka Master KG, became the figure behind music\u2019s most contagious and, for many, most unexpected hit of 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Master KG came through Paris to continue his string of international collaborations, coming off of a massive single \u2019Shine Your Light’ with David Guetta and Akon, we took the opportunity to sit down with the DJ and producer to find out more about what came before “Jerusalema,” and what we can expect in its aftermath. Master KG is as bright and composed as his music. He sat with a big smile, a cheerful disposition, and an eagerness to talk about his life in music. The more we spoke, the clearer it became that Master KG and the phenomenon surrounding him is more than just a series of falling dominos. In fact, it is a mixture of destiny and determination. Master KG walks us through his humble beginnings, musical inspirations, his first stab at a hit via “Skeleton Bones,” and his new status as a world ambassador for South African music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell us a little about your background and how you came into music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I was born in a village called Kelis. It\u2019s in South Africa born in a province called Limpopo outside a town called Tzaneen. Growing up in the villages it was very hard. Things were not really good. My mother was the only person working and she had me, my brother, a little sister, my grandmother and my grandmother\u2019s two daughters. My mother was the one making sure that everybody eats at the end of the day. So you could imagine. She was working at a hotel and they were not giving them enough money but then she actually could afford for everyone to sleep with something inside. That\u2019s one of those things that pushed me to actually work harder on the music. It started in 2009. That\u2019s when I thought that I love music so much and that I would love to get into it. But then, in 2012, that\u2019s when I started trying to produce, trying to see how these projects work or trying to see the application that they use. I had friends in the village. Around by that time, if you had a PC, a computer, you were able to just make songs because like we\u2019re using FL Studio, just install plug and play. You go, just like that. But that was very very hard. It took me many years. When I felt like things were making sense was in 2015. That\u2019s also when people were starting to say, \u2018You\u2019re coming right.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Was music present in the house growing up?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s so weird because I\u2019m the only one who\u2019s actually interested in music. Everybody from my family was in anything music related or had anything to do with music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You mention elsewhere you\u2019re inspired by a local genre from your village called Kelowin House.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. It\u2019s a genre that is inspired by our culture. The elements that we use in the music are from those legends who came before us. There\u2019s certain elements that they\u2019ve left behind, so we know this is the sound of Balobedu [a South African ethnic group within the Sotho-Tswana people]. It\u2019s actually made in Balobedian, it\u2019s truly Balobedu. So I take those elements and I\u2019m mixing them with modern house, modern dance, modern scenes and creating something special. So the sound is very baked in our province in Limpopo and there\u2019s many many artists that are doing it and some who are doing pure Balobedu House music. They don\u2019t really mix with the modern house. It\u2019s really really loud and I appreciated where I\u2019m coming from. It\u2019s the sound of the town. We grew up making music. It was not about TV, not about radio, we were just making music. We didn\u2019t have to put the music on the streaming sites or anything like that. We\u2019re just making something and now that it\u2019s done it gets shared by bluetooth to the next and from there it goes to the next person and all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you name some of the legends you refer to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s people like Penny Penny, Peter Teanet, Ken D, Zama Ndebele, those people who actually held the culture throughout the years before we actually came into existence. What they left behind is something that we\u2019re pushing forward to the world. Also, my music is more inspired by the late Bojo Mujo. He was a DJ producer and a singer. He was also from Limpopo, the same province where I come from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n