At the heart of what we do is our mission to give a stage to African creators who inspire people. Our Littlegig Franschhoek ‘23 artists, in order of appearance…
DIGITAL SANGOMA
Digital Sangoma is an Afro-electronic music producer and performer. A qualified sound engineer and electronic music programmer, he credits his studies for helping him to establish his own sound – a rhythmic fusion of soulful traditional vocal chants, Afro and indie dance beats, and electronic synths.
For the past 2 years, Digital Sangoma and Mathousand16 have been making beats and DJing together as a duo set called Umtshotsho.
Instagram here.
THE JOY
The Joy is five young guys (Ntokozo Magcaba, Melokuhle Mkhungo, Sanele Ngcobo, Phelelani Sithole and Sandile Sphelele Hlophe) from a small KZN town who met at high school and are fast becoming an international phenomenon. It was through TikTok that the quintet caught the attention of legendary producer Two Inch Punch who signed them to his label imprint and released two singles of their unique a capella arrangements of traditional Zulu songs. Since then they’ve been on the iconic UK music show Later… with Jools Holland, they’ve collaborated with the Blessed Madonna on the track ‘Shades of Love’ which is the official track for Glastonbury 2023 where they will be doing 3 shows. They’ve been signed for bookings by music industry powerhouse Lucy Dickins (Global head of Contemporary Music for WME).
Instagram here.
JEMMA KAHN
Jemma Kahn is a gift from the edgier side of the South African theatre scene, where performance is physical, satirical, and in her case, Freudian and a little dirty. She didn’t disappoint with ‘Tits for Brains’, an ‘art clowning’ piece she wrote and performed especially for Littlegig Franschhoek ’23.Jemma is a writer, director, performer, theatre teacher and past winner of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre. This year she debuted in London at the historic Riverside Studios and her cabaret storytelling show ‘We Didn’t Come to Hell for the Croissants’ was met with rave reviews, including 4 stars from The Guardian, who wrote: “We feel as though we have been thrown delicious after-dinner morsels and we want more.”
LOKI ROTHMAN
Cape Town guitarist Loki Rothman made his first mark on the music scene in 2009’s SA’s Got Talent. Astonishingly, he was born with his ring and middle fingers fused on both hands and as a toddler had over 20 operations. His style has gained him international attention on his YouTube channel, where he currently has over 1.4 million views. He produced, co-wrote and toured with Jack Parow for 5 years. Loki now focuses on his solo career as a guitarist, singer, film composer and music producer.
Instagram here.
MATHOUSAND16
For the past 2 years, Digital Sangoma and Mathousand16 have been making beats and DJing as duo ‘Umtshotsho’. They closed off Littlegig with the perfect crossover set.
Mathousand16 (LHS) is a 31 year old producer, recording artist, DJ and fashion designer from Bulawayo. In 2022 he released singles ‘Ingwenyama’ and ‘Sabela’, fusions of electronic dance music and the retro kwaito sound which influenced him when growing up.
Instagram here.