Underground is my home: Dj Pzet

Underground deejays must unite. This was a plea made by Dj Pzet to fellow underground deejays during a “Guns and Roses” party on Friday at Zig Zag Lounge at Berea Centre, Durban.
23-year-old Dj Pzet whose real name is Phakamani Zulu is an underground deejay who is a resident deejay at a newly opened bar, grill, and lounge Zig Zag. “I approached the manager of Zig Zag Daviola Ramputa and told him I was a deejay, an underground deejay. I told him I wished to play on weekends and I would bring my own cd players, and he agreed. That is how this whole Zig Zag thing came about,” he boasted.
Zig Zag was opened late last year, September to be precise, and it has attracted a number of party lovers in and around Berea. What it has also done is that it has given underground deejays a chance to show case their talent. Pzet, a financial assistant at Road Accident Fund joined in on November. The lounge has also invited the likes of Dj Mthuthu, Dj Slim, Dj Nzwiri, Dj 15 and a female deejay known as Dj Happy-Gal. Dj Happy-Gal said she was elated to have been invited to play there tor the first time. “I feel honored to have been the first female deejay to have played at Zig Zag and I would like to thank the management,” she happily said.
When asked about some of the challenges they face as underground deejays, Dj Pzet first sighed deeply. He then said there were quite numerous. “Bra it’s hard being an underground deejay. For example, lets say there is a gig somewhere and our names are written on the poster only a few would attend because we are not “famous” like Dj Bongz, you understand?” he said. And other challenges he stated were that people took them for granted but they forget that some of those “famous” deejays buy music from them when compiling a cd. “My man people don’t understand some of those guys[“famous deejays”] buy music from us underground deejays, and the saddest thing is that they get recognition through our hard work,” he said.
Even though underground deejays are faced with a number of challenges, they still get opportunities. They are “cheap” so they get hired locally to play at house parties or weddings. “That’s where we get our money from bra. People in the townships wouldn’t want to pay Tira [deejay] R9000 for an hour, they’d rather hire us because we cost less and we sure can play,” Pzet said.
Deejaying is like a business, there are also weaknesses. Pzet stated that some of the weaknesses they got are that people take them for granted because they don’t have cds at music stores. Furthermore he said it was hard getting music, “Go to Soul Candy Records you will see what I’m talking about,” he said. He alleges that “famous” deejays get access to music that is not on the shelves. The stuff members take them to the store room and give them vinyls to choose from.
If there are weaknesses, it means there are also strengths. Some of the strengths the underground deejays have are that they live with their fans, unlike those “famous deejays who some you can’t even talk to. That is advantageous because the “fan” would tell them [underground deejays] the kind of music they love, they would play if for them. Pzet said that that was what he also did,” Man I live and grew up with these people, I can’t betray them because angsilona I celeb lova (I’m not a celebrity). These people are my target market, they tell me the kind of music they like and I play it for them.”
Mario Mkamba, a first-year Information Technology student at the Durban University of technology said he loved underground deejays because they are “down-to-earth” and they listen and do what they are asked to do, “these guys are like our servants, they listen and act on our commands.”Pzet urged all underground deejays to unite and people to support them. “Music is my life, underground is my home,” he concluded. To see Dj Pzet live in action and other underground deejays, go to Zig Zag Lounge every Wednesdays to Sundays.