Treading the trail of success

Philani Manyoni, known as DJ Mpiloz, continues to strive for success and this time he is also dabbling in the fashion and fragrance industry.

The seasoned DJ, who has set dance floors alight in cities like Qatar, Washington DC, New York and Miami, to name a few, says he has been keeping busy during the national lockdown, focusing on growing his music career and extending his business options.

READ: DJ Mpiloz on an eventful visit in Qatar

On the music front, DJ Mpiloz (32) is proud to announce that he has released a brand new extended play (EP) record, which features artists from Winterton, Colita and Estcourt. The EP is entitled ‘Good Time’ and is available on all music download platforms.

“The EP has six tracks. My favourite is track two – ‘He’s the king’. The reason I love this song is because it speaks of my relationship with God. He has never left me when things were dark and as everyone knows, I am called the ‘Praying DJ’, ” said DJ Mpiloz.

In addition to giving the new artists featured on his EP national exposure, DJ Mpiloz is also reaching out to his contacts abroad to market their music internationally.

ALSO SEE: More awards, gigs and another album from DJ Mpiloz

“They are talented and the EP has an ‘international’ sound to it,” he added.

Branching out into other fields, DJ Mpiloz has reignited his love for fashion design and launched Deep Family, which is a clothing brand. He has also added colognes under this brand. So, why is a DJ designing clothing?

“Since I was young, I wanted to become a fashion designer. In 2010 I started with a plan to design my own brand of clothing but I did not focus on it. When the lockdown began there were no events or gigs, so I had no money coming in. I decided to push the clothing brand and started redesigning the logo and designed the clothing by myself,” he explained.

Soon orders from across South Africa were pouring in for the trendy hooded sweaters, T-shirts and beanies.

“People love the brand, especially in Estcourt and are sending in orders. I’m sure soon very soon in every corner of Estcourt, people will be wearing Deep Family,” DJ Mpiloz said.

Hard work and sacrifice are the words that DJ Mpiloz uses to describe his life.

“I made big sacrifices to get where I am today. When I first started, I had to borrow money from loan sharks to get to the places I wanted to be in. At one stage, I lost everything. I had a dream but didn’t have the money. However, I did not give up. I want to tell other artists out there, don’t give up. Look ahead and don’t let your background affect your choices,” he says.

If you would like to support this local artist, connect with him on Facebook via his pages DJ Mpiloz and Deep Family Clothing.

NOW READ: DJ Mpiloz – From Loskop to the world

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