M'du

Mduduzi Masilela—a.k.a. M’du— is one of the liveliest producers to come out of South Africa. Born in the Zola section of Soweto in 1970, M'du defined a unique lane for himself, characterised by a precise approach to composition and a distinctive, gravelly voice. He started out producing with Mandla Spikiri of Trompies renown, riding the bubblegum wave while experimenting with international house sounds that would later form the building blocks of kwaito music. As MM Deluxe, the duo mastered their way around joints like the acclaimed Downtown Studios in Johannesburg, releasing the album LA Beat in 1990, as well as countless underground white labels. His solo output and projects with the group Mashamplani often teem with complex chord structures and stark, low frequency-friendly basslines, such as on 1997’s Always Da Case, while percussive drum programming mixed with timeless melodies and earth-shattering basslines fill others, like 1995’s Y U 4 Me. The influence of his compositions and lyrics echo through South African hip-hop and amapiano.