In one of the first big good news stories of 2020, DJ Lag is in Los Angeles for Sunday night’s 62nd Annual Grammy Awards where he will be attending as a member of the Recording Academy.
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The DJ Lag-produced track, “My Power” is also in contention for an award as part of Beyoncé Best Pop Vocal Album nominated The Lion King: The Gift. This year’s Grammy Awards are hosted by Alicia Keys and will be broadcast live from LA’s Staples Center, on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET (6am SA time, Monday January 27th).
The gqom innovator and global ambassador’s trip has been made possible by Adidas. He is accompanied by Black Major founder, Sevi Spanoudi, and Chris Kets, who are capturing DJ Lag in his favourite global city for a short film to be released in the next few months.
“It’s such an honour to be at the biggest music awards event in the world,” says DJ Lag who became the first gqom artist to have his work considered for the Grammy Awards when Uhuru was considered for a World Music nomination during the build-up to this year’s awards event. “Step by incredible step we are taking the sounds of Clermont to an even bigger global audience.” This includes America where DJ Lag has a growing fanbase that is steadily being built off the back of his tours to the country several times a year.
“This is a huge milestone in both Black Major’s growth as an agency representing world class talent, and of course in DJ Lag’s journey to the global stage,” adds Spanoudi. “This weekend we are proud to be flying South Africa’s colours around L.A.”
Alongside Beyoncé – who is also up for Best Pop Solo Performance (“Spirit”) and Best Song Written For Visual Media (“Spirit”) – DJ Lag has a connection to one of the performers at this year’s Grammy Awards.
Diplo has been announced as one of the guests for a performance of “Old Town Road All-Stars” by nominees Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X. It was Diplo’s Mad Decent sub-label, Good Enuff, that released DJ Lag’s Uhuru EP in 2019. This followed a creative connection between DJ Lag and the American producer forged after Diplo saw the South African performing at a LA club during DJ Lag’s trip to the city to put the finishing touches to “My Power”. The EP includes “Amanikiniki”, featuring Unticipated Soundz, which was released as a video at the end of last year.
The release of Uhuru was part of an incredible year for DJ Lag in 2019 that included an appearance at AFROPUNK’s Carnival of Consciousness in Atlanta with his collaborator, the drummer Moses Boyd, a collaboration with Shekhinah (“Anywhere We Go”) and multiple international live dates as part of his Uhuru world tour, including Sónar Barcelona 2019.
Image Courtesy: Supplied
