In just six years, DJ Lag has established himself as a world-class sonic innovator and taken one of the most exciting electronic music movements of the 21st century from South Africa into the global spotlight. Remarkably, Lwazi Asanda Gwala has achieved this while not yet 26 and while remaining deeply connected to the source of his creativity – the township of Clermont in the coastal city of Durban. The movement that DJ Lag has pioneered is Gqom, a Zulu word meaning drum or hit, which DJ and Hyperdub Records label head Kode9 has described as “like being suspended over the gravitational field of a black hole, and lovin’ it”. Propelled by DJ Lag’s prodigious musical gifts, this defiantly geographically specific sound has also found a devoted – and fast growing – international audience with DJ Mag anointing DJ Lag “the globe-conquering Gqom king”. In 2021, Lag released his debut album Meeting With The King with support spanning all corners of the globe as well as two cover stories with Mixmag and DJ Mag.