I never heard of her name and didn’t know if it was a group, a singer, or the gender of the artist in question. I just know when I saw the name on the lineup for the 2023 Hyde Park Festival and started to research it. When I saw a woman behind the turntables, I said this is interesting. Then when I saw her on stage, I said this is interesting.
I do know Uncle Waffles is a DJ, but not in a conventional mode of what you expect a DJ to be. I would like to call her more of an entertainer than simply a DJ. The 23-year-old who was born in Swaziland (now known as Eswatini) is based in South Africa and became an internet sensation a few years ago.
She got her stage name from the breakfast food in the animated series Teen Titans Go!
In high school, her friends would tease her by singing it. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she said “Because I didn’t like it, it was like ‘okay, we’re going to then call you Waffles.”
When she started her Instagram account after high school, her friends recommended that she call it “Uncle Waffles.” Which incorporated her nickname along with a trend of people calling each other uncle in Southern Africa.
She is just as popular for her dance moves as she is known for playing music. She incorporates dancing and live performers into her set and gives the atmosphere more of a musical theme instead of just a DJ set.
Billboard has given her the title of “princess of amapiano” which is a subgenre of house music and is a hybrid of deep house, Afro house, gqom, jazz, Afro Tech, and lounge music. Watching her on stage, I can understand why people like her. She is a beautiful young lady with a lot of energy and makes sure the crowd stays engaged.
Even though she has only been DJing for a few years, she has a massive following, a multi-platinum record, and has rocked some of the biggest crowds around the world. The crowd was hyped for her performance in Chicago.
In true fashion she had dancers come out on stage.
Throughout her whole set, she stayed active and made sure the crowd paid attention to her movements.
I don’t think I would be in a rush to go to one of her parties. However, if I do go, I know what to expect. It might be some confusion on what Uncle Waffles does on my part, but I do know whatever it is, she does it well.
