IPhxne DJ & South African Producer K-Zaka Champion African Collaboration

In an electrifying conversation on Big Convo, Ghana-based IPhxne DJ and South African producer K-Zaka shared enthralling insights about the evolution of African dance music, the power of cross-border collaborations and the rise of Africa’s global musical influence.

The duo, who have recently worked on Davido’s newly released GALORIZZY, revealed how their partnership began with a simple Instagram DM that has now sparked one of the most promising African music collaborations of the year.

K-Zaka explained how the African soundscape has shifted since his early years in South Africa, especially with the rise of Amapiano and the emergence of new hybrids like 3-step a fusion of Amapiano, Afro house and EDM-inspired rhythms.

“Either way, we’re just making dance music, but there are different sub-genres of it,” he said.

He emphasised that Africa’s sound continues to evolve, and the world is paying attention now more than ever.

Responding to questions about the future of African music, K-Zaka noted that African creatives are now at the centre of global curiosity.

“The world has found us South Africans, Nigerians, Ghanaians. People are travelling to hear what we have to offer. The time is now,” he said.

However, he warned that unity is essential to prevent the exploitation of African culture:

“We must hold each other’s hands and tell our own stories. Otherwise, others will tell it for us.”

IPhxne DJ revealed that K-Zaka reached out to him two years ago after discovering his unique content, DJing entirely on an iPhone.

“He texted me randomly on Instagram and asked if I’ve ever thought about producing music,” IPhxne said.

That message resulted in numerous collaborative sessions, including the beat that eventually became Davido’s GALORIZZY, created in just 24 hours with Nigerian artiste Mavo.

The duo teased a star-studded lineup of upcoming collaborations with; Darkovibes, Mugeez, Omar Sterling and many others. They also mentioned missing a studio session with Black Sherif.

On December festivities, K-Zaka noted that South Africa mirrors Ghana and Nigeria with nonstop parties, massive festivals and cooler box outdoor events.

He highlighted the need for African music circuits and touring infrastructures to keep the culture alive and owned by Africans.

Zaka paid tribute to South African greats like Oskido, DJ Fresh, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and the late Riky Rick, AKA and Costa Titch.

“We lost a lot of culture bearers. There’s a gap, but we must fill it by continuing what they stood for,” he said.

Both artistes reaffirmed their commitment to discovering new talent across Africa, expanding their stay in Ghana, and building deeper ties with artistes beyond the continent’s biggest markets.