DJ Mujava - Early Life, Education, Career Achievements and Discography

Elvis Maswanganyi, better known as DJ Mujava, is a South African DJ and electronic music producer. He has released music through Warp Records, This Is Music, and Sheer House. DJ Mujava was inspired by artists like DJ Fresh, Oskido, Masters At Work, Revolution, and Loop Masters.

Early Life

DJ Mujava, born around 1985, is from Attridgeville, a township in Pretoria, South Africa. He was the only one in his family with a passion for music. As a child, he practiced dancing and spent his free time with a small keyboard he had at home. Learning to program music was a challenge for him, especially after he dropped out of high school at 16. His brother made a big sacrifice by not having a party for himself and instead buying DJ Mujava a computer to help him learn and improve his production skills. 

Career

Gospel producer Cry, who ran an independent company called CSP, suggested to DJ Mujava that they try working on a house music project together. They then started a company called House Therapy Productions. Through this venture, they produced music for a range of local artists, including gospel singers and hip-hop groups.

Once DJ Mujava established himself, he expanded his reach by joining forces with Sheer House through his production company, Mujava's Music Production & Entertainment. He produced tracks for various artists like Bojo Mujo, Casablanca (DJ Floit), DJ Cee, Ghetto Skwatt (a hip-hop group), and Simon Makhatholele (a gospel singer). In 2004, one of their songs was featured on the BOP album "The D Project: Life 'Iskorokoro Bop Killer" alongside Zulu and Costa.

As his DJ career took off, Mujava released several best-selling mix albums in South Africa. He later started his own production company, creating a variety of house music. One of his notable tracks, "Township Funk," became a national hit. The song gained international attention and its video went viral, catching the interest of the British electronica label Warp. Initially released as a white label in early 2008, "Township Funk" was well-received in the UK dance scene and continued to be popular across Europe into 2009.

DJ Mujava's track "Township Funk," which he co-produced with DJ Spoko, was released on Warp Records in 2008. The song gained significant attention, being played by Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 1. Mujava also mixed a half-hour session for BBC Radio 6's 6 Mix in 2008, hosted by Iyare. He has been featured by DJ Kayper and Sonny Ji on BBC Asian Network, as well as DJ Edu and MistaJam on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

DJ Mujava is signed with This Is Music in the UK and Warp Records internationally. In 2008, he was ranked number 34 on NME's Cool List and is also featured on the NME website.

In the film "Future Sound of Mzansi," produced by Spoek Mathambo and distributed by Vice, DJ Mujava talks about his arrest for marijuana possession, which led to his detention in Weskoppies psychiatric hospital and being injected with drugs that he believes have impacted his music production.

His most recent collaboration was with South African DJ and producer DJ Qness, where they remixed the track "XXXO," originally by UK pop singer M.I.A.

Discography

Albums

2005 - Pretoria's Exclusive V1

2006 - Sgubhu Sa Pitori

2008 - Sgubhu Sa Pitori 3 

2016 - I.M.I

2023 - sgubhu sa mamelodi

Singles

2008 - Township Funk

2009 - Township Funk (Remixes)

2023 - Crying Baby

2023 - The Final Countdown