DAZZ-B MUSIQ – A MUSICAL POLYMATH FROM SOSHANGUVE

Obakeng Kekana, known as Dazz-B MusiQ, grew up in Soshanguve, a major multi-ethnic residential area located about 30 km north of Pretoria in Gauteng, South Africa. He grew up close to where Malombo drummer Mabi Gabriel Thobejane once lived, a connection that runs through much of his work with M2KR. Born on the 10^th of  April 2001, Obakeng started DJing in 2010 and producing his own work by 2012. His roots are deep in South African traditional music and Mali Blues from West Africa. He moves with natural ease between those sounds and contemporary electronic production.

TRBUTE TO BUSI MHLONGO

DAZZ-B MUSIQ encounter with M2KR began with remixes of works by Busi Mhlongo, Madala Kunene and Mabi Gabriel Thobejane. In 2024 Dazz-B MusiQ, together with Slaga and Xingondo King, took on a remix of Busi Mhlongo's "Webaba Omncane". That track had already been made famous by other remixes but mainly the 2010 remix of Webaba by Culoe de Song and Black Coffee.

"Thin' Izizwe (Change Down Mix)" followed the same year, alongside collaborations with I.O.P remix "Awukhumuzi in the Mix".

MADALA KUNENE & FRIENDS

MABI GABRIEL THOBEJANE - MALOMBO TO MATRIX

Mabi Thobejane’s international reach expanded through a decade-long collaboration with British electronic/industrial project Juno Reactor. His powerful conga performance on tracks like "Conga Fury" led to his involvement with composer Don Davis on the epic cinematic soundscapes for The Matrix Trilogy and The Animatrix.

Mabi landed on the radar of Obakeng Kekana, aka Dazz-B MusiQ, thanks to a quiet introduction from Robert Trunz, whose world has always been driven by drums, percussion and bass. Obakeng aptly called his first remix of a Mabi Gabriel composition (performed by Robert "Doc" Mthalane) "Areyeng (Simply a Bass Remix)".

Obakeng’s 2025 EP MEROPA featuring Mabi Gabriel Thobejane and Tarang Cissokho, put percussion and ancestral rhythm at the centre of the music rather than layering them on top. It includes Mabi’s  "The Legend of Zwara – Sub Bass as the Soul (Ancestor Mix)" and Tarang’s "Sanou – L'Homme Honorable" remixes.

Together with Grandpa Stiffpap, his closest studio partner, they presented the Gen Z 261 Mix Voila – Je Critique by Malagsy trio SA ROY.

THE SPIRIT OF POPS MOHAMED

"The Dream Spirit" is a moving tribute to Pops Mohamed, who passed away in December 2025. It reworks "The Spirit" from Pops' 1997 album "How Far Have We Come”. While the track was being produced, Obakeng insisted it needed live players. That led to sessions with Madala Kunene and bassist Bernard Sibusiso Mndaweni, two musicians who had worked closely with Pops.

2026 has been his biggest year yet. With encouragement from M2KR founder Robert Trunz, he launched his own label, THAT BEAT, a home for his own catalogue in both commercial and experimental dance music. In March 26 Obakeng released Music With No Name Vol. 5 – Shaman's Promise. He dedicated it to the deeply spiritual artists of the MELT 2000 label, several of whom are no longer with us. The seed was planted when Robert played him Shaman, the mid-90s London sessions of Tuvan throat singer Boris Salchak, Swiss guitarist Christy Doran and Brazilian master percussionist Airto Moreira. On the release, Tuvan throat singing, Xhosa song and the San recordings of the Kalahari meet an Afro House groove.

DAZZ-B MUSIQ's PRODUCTION MEETS AIRTO MOREIRA & FLORA PURIM

In September 2026 Dazz-B MusiQ and Grandpa Stiffpap released "FREEDOM TO MIX", dedicated to Brazilian Jazz-Diva Flora Purim and percussionist Airto Moreira. Flora, who arrived in New York in 1967, went on to work with Duke Pearson, Stan Getz and Gil Evans, before she and Airto joined Chick Corea in what became Return to Forever.  Airto, who was discovered by Miles Davis in New York b, first joined Miles on the recording of the groundbreaking album Bitches Brew.

FREEDOM TO MIX was born out of Obakeng spending months going through the B&W MUSIC/MELT 2000 archives of audio and video recordings, photographs, artwork and liner notes. There he found footage of the final1994 Outernational Meltdown concert at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Twon, held under the banner WE MUST MIX. Robert united artist from different countries, continents and colour on the Baxter stage. Airto Moreira, Jose Neto, Andrew Missingham and Byron Wallen joined Moses Taiwa Molelekwa, Sipho Gumede, Pops Mohamed and the Amampondo group. For the vocal samples used in FREEDOM TO MIX, Obakeng  found an interview Robert Trunz gave in 1994 on the bottom of  Lion's Head.

OUD MASTER SMADJ COMES TO DURBAN

Obakeng created an Amapiano version of Madala Kunene's "Ubombo" together with French-Tunisian oud master Smadj. A year later in October 2026 the two had forged a rich and daring musical dialogue which led to a new live collaboration and tour through some of Southern African cities like Durban, Pretoria, Maseru, Windhoek and Lusaka.

Born from a shared appetite for exchange and experimentation, the partnership has produced a series of creations that fuse dance music pulses, the colours of Oriental music, and contemporary electronic textures. The duo continues its exploration by revisiting the world of Busi Mhlongo or the Bushmen of the Kalahari and to open a conversation between traditions and the sounds of the future.

DAKAR TO DURBAN – MULTICULTURAL TEACHING

Dakar to Durban brings young, self-taught talents from Senegal and South Africa into professional production studios and educational learning spaces.

The project is led by two main producers, who are also its teachers. Tarang Cissokho represents the Senegalese griot and kora tradition, and Dazz-B MusiQ is a multi-instrumentalist and producer. Together they teach and co-write with young artists, recording and producing new works side by side. Established producers and sound engineers from each country mentor the work.

The project is deliberately multi-faceted, covering every side of youth skills development. The disciplines are music production and engineering, with the human skills that artificial intelligence can't replace; documenting for multimedia and social media; archival records and why they matter; and the business of administration and IP literacy. The entire process is a lesson in multitasking!

THE SOUND ARCHIVIST

Obakeng Kekana treats the MELT 2000 archives not as something to keep behind glass but as living music, handed on to a new generation and a new dance floor.