DJ Ganyani

Although active since the 1990s, DJ Ganyani came into his own in the early part of the 2000s, becoming a widely recognized figure in South African house music first with the breakthrough compilations Simunye House Grooves Vol. 1 and 2, followed by his long-running album series, Ganyani’s House Grooves, which by 2017, had reached ten volumes. Ranging from nightclubs to street parties to football stadiums, Ganyani has played with artists from T-Boze and DJ Tira to Little Louie Vega and collaborated with Big Nuz among others. Born Ganyani Tshabalala in Soweto, he founded his own company, Ganyani Entertainment, in the ’90s, providing entertainment to various corporate clients. By the turn of the millennium, he’d become well-established in the club scene and was asked by the South African Development Community (SADC) in Botswana to compile a pair of Simunye House Grooves collections to promote their Simunye (a Zulu word meaning “we are one”) brand. Released in 2001, Simunye House Grooves, Vol. 1 was followed by a second volume a year later and raised Ganyani’s status considerably, particularly among young clubgoers. He even earned a gold disc for the first collection. Over the coming years, DJ Ganyani continued to build his Ganyani Entertainment brand, sharing stages with other major players from the club and house scene. He began his own series of house compilations under the title Ganyani’s House Grooves, which became very popular in the early and mid-2010s. His 2015 collection, Ganyani's House Grooves, Vol. 9, featured collaborations with Big Nuz, Toshi, and WandaBoy. He released a tenth volume in 2017 and also began collaborating on a series of singles with singer Goodluck. ~ Timothy Monger