Kwiish SA

Born Lehlohonolo Marota in 1998, Kwiish SA took up dance music by osmosis at age 12 in Vosloorus, near Soweto. His father owned a club there, and Kwiish taught himself the fundamentals using DJ equipment stored in the family's home at night. In 2017, his taut, instrumental amapiano track "Isikhathi" ("time" in Zulu) broke out and hit the mainstream via social media. Kwiish has since applied his own spin to amapiano's fusion of gqom, deep house and jazzy keyboards. He embraces amapiano's sensuous side on his 2019 single "Sondela”, featuring female vocalist LoveBlack, and explores its more experimental possibilities on tracks like "Lagos", from his 2020 album East Network, which lopes along on elegant drums and something resembling the nocturnal sounds of electronic insects. His collaborations include "Ka Painelwa", sung by the soulful Steven Lee Lewis, and "LiYoshona", where hitmakers MalumNator and Njelic complain about an unfaithful lover over Kwiish's mellow production.