South African DJ Lag has shared his long-awaited debut album, Meeting with The King, on Ice Drop and Black Major.

Over the past years, DJ Lag, real name Lwazi Asanda Gwala, has become the poster boy for Durban’s rapidly growing gqom scene, putting out music on Hyperdub and Goon Club Allstars, where he’s dropped several relentless club tracks, which serve as a perfect introduction to the bass-heavy sound of gqom. In 2019, he notably collaborated with Beyoncé on a track called “My Power” on Beyoncé’s album The Lion King: The Gift.

His debut album builds on his signature darker style, but it sees him dropping the BPM from 127 to 124-12 on several tracks. This reveals a slower, sexier sound on songs like “Ikhehla,” the lead single, featuring Babes Wodumo, streaming below.

In creating this style, more than a decade after he taught himself to DJ and produce while still a teenager in Clermont, Durban, DJ Lag leans heavily on amapiano, afro house, and afro tech. The result is unmistakably DJ Lag’s sound signature but this time “excavating new ground to create a fusion that makes a persuasive case, in particular, for gqom and amapiano as sonic siblings in delivering high energy music for the dancefloor.”

Tracklisting

01. Thongo Lam ft. Ndoni
02. Destiny feat. Amanda Black
03. Raptor feat. Sinjin Hawke
04. Lucifer feat. Lady Du
05. Ikhehla feat. Babes Modumo
06. Into Ongayazi
07. Shululu feat. K.C Driller & Loki
08. Khavhude feat. Mr Jazziq, Mpura & Vic Typhoon
09. Keep Going
10. Something Different
11. Yasho Leyonto feat. Dlada Mshunqisi
12. Chaos ft. General C’mamane & Omagoqa
13. No Child’s Play feat. General C’mamane & Deejay Jackzin
14. New Wave feat. Omagoqa
15. DJ Lag feat. Babes Wodumo & Mampintsha

Meeting with The King LP is available now, with “IKhehla” streaming in full below.