Daveyton – Da Kruk is ready to steal Coffee’s attention in the Axe Find Your Magic campaign.
Twenty-nine-year-old Kutloano Nhlapo’s dream of becoming a world class DJ is on the verge of coming true and he says he is ready.
“I think my understanding of success being a journey and not a destination makes me want to explore more within myself and what the world has to offer.”
The self-taught DJ and producer was born and raised in Daveyton. He is affectionately known as Da Kruk.
Da Kruk, pronounced ‘the crook’, is an acronym for ‘Da Kreative Real Unique Kutloano’.
He says he started DJing in 2005 to pass time during holidays and stay out of trouble.
“I have vivid memories of coming home after school and doing what my dad used to do for his friends – I introduce my friends to new music.
“It showed me how music changes people’s moods and energies.
“Before I knew it I was making mixes for friends and started playing at bottles stores, taverns and birthday parties in and around my hood.”
Kutlwano had a bigger vision while in tertiary education and he started passing mixes out at student residences and working his way into campus radio and now regional radio.
He adds that he had to drop out in his second year of varsity to help his mother to put his little brother through tertiary school.
“We did that successfully and I am proud of him.”
The AXE Find Your Magic campaign is aimed at finding talent across the country and expose them to the world.
The competition boils down to the top five finalists who will be sent off to Ibiza with Black Coffee.
“Black Coffee’s story is one that inspires me a lot because he was just a young boy who, against all odds (socio-economic and physical disadvantages), made it work by putting in the hours.
Da Kruk believes that true craftsmanship takes time.
“So just being in those spaces, around those kinds of people makes me look at my story and admire the strides I’ve made.”
