Exporting the groove

Bacardi's global ambassador, and fashion futurist, DJ Doowap is putting Pretoria's pulse on the world's playlist

- Lesego Chepape

I remember the first time I saw Khetsiwe Morgan, known to the world as DJ Doowap, spin her magic.

It was at one of Lady Skollie’s art exhibitions, the kind of event where suits and silk dresses hold tightly to their wine glasses and social postures.

But when Doowap touched the decks, something shifted. She summoned energy. The tight, reserved crowd softened, hips loosened, and next thing you knew, a full-blown groove had erupted in the gallery.

I was struck, not only by her technical skill and musical range but by her joy. She was smiling the whole time, completely immersed in her own world, pulling everyone in with her.

Little did I know that I was arriving late to the party. DJ Doowap had already spent nearly a decade touring the world, captivating audiences from Johannesburg to New York.

Her unique blend of sound, deeply rooted in the township-born bacardi genre, has put her at the forefront of a sonic revolution.

In 2023, she was recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans in the Arts and Entertainment category, a recognition that felt both celebratory and overdue.

Right now, Doowap is on a European tour, taking the vibrational pulse of Pretoria, specifically the infectious energy of bacardi music, and sharing it with crowds in Paris and across Germany. She’s not simply performing; she’s exporting culture, delivering the sound of the streets to international stages where the beat of Mzansi is becoming the rhythm of the world.

Her latest single Seroba Ke Seh is a love letter to bacardi’s origins. The title itself, lifted from Pretoria slang, signals a commitment to authenticity, even as she travels the globe.

Doowap worked with bacardi veterans Enny Man Da Guitar and rising star C.JayMnandi from Hammanskraal to capture that unmistakable township pulse.