Lee Art shares journey to success after lecturer inspires her sound

A 26-year-old DJ from Mabopane in the north of Pretoria is set to take the entertainment industry by storm through her music.

Lethabo Gaulana, who goes by her stage name, Lee Art, recently released her debut single, titled “Iphutha Lam” on August 16.

The song delves into the emotional experience and pain of unreciprocated love and features artists like Tycoon, Zeenhle, Mpho Spizzy, and Tshepo Keyz.

Gaulana’s musical journey began in 2019 while she was pursuing a diploma in media studies at Boston Media House.

She said she fell in love with deejaying in her second year after her lecturer introduced her to it.

“I was accompanying my lecturer to his deejaying class this one time, and that’s when I witnessed all the magic happen.”
Gaulana said she was fascinated by all the different sounds and how students were trying to mix their beats.
“When I went back home that day, I remember envisioning myself with my own set and sound, trying to make people dance,” she said.

At first her mom was concerned about the specific career path that she wanted to follow, because she believed that it would expose her to things in the industry that would be detrimental to her professional growth as a young girl.

“My mom was worried from the beginning when I decided to study media in college, so I had to work really hard to prove to her that I can do this.”

After a couple of months of watching and learning from the other students, Gaulana started practising how to deejay towards the end of 2019 in her lecturer’s studio.

“I fell in love with beat matching and wanted to learn more, but after failing really badly, I became discouraged and wanted to stop, but my lecturer convinced me to keep pushing and practise more.”

She taught herself beat matching in 2020 during lockdown using Virtual DJ, as that was her biggest struggle.

“I used Virtual DJ to practise more often, and after a while I could see the difference. I could eventually listen to two songs at the same time and tell the difference between the beats,” she said.

In late 2020 and early 2021, Gaulana started playing at different parties, using different equipment so she could sharpen her skills.

She said playing at these parties helped her a lot because it gave her the opportunity to play for different crowds and see how people would receive her deejaying style.

“People did not really care if I was perfect or not. They were just there to have a good time and enjoyed the music I played.

“I did, however, receive criticism from people close to me, and they made me realise that I was doing better than before.”

Gaulana’s big break came in 2023 when she collaborated on a feature with award-winning artists DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small on a song called “Ungiphetekahle”.

She then went on to perform at the prestigious DStv Delicious festival, where she shared the stage with some of South Africa’s biggest artists.

“Navigating in such a male-dominated industry was really difficult in the beginning, because most of the time I had to go the extra mile to prove myself.

“Sometimes I had to do gigs for free just to get recognition, and other times I even had to deal with mistreatment,” she said.

Gaulana believes that nothing is impossible and aims to uplift others with her work.

She hopes to inspire people through her journey while also encouraging them to pursue their dreams relentlessly.

To hear Lee Art’s new song, visit

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram