DJ Ndimza’s love for music carries him through tough times

Kwaito emerged in the streets of Soweto in the 1990s and often highlighted politics and injustices happening at the time. It united people of colour through culture, language and economy.
Collen Qwabe, popularly known as DJ Ndimza, loved dance, drama and music as a child. “My love of music started at an early age. I loved Micheal Jackson and always marvelled at his dance moves and music. He prompted me to join the drama club at school.”
Qwabe fell in love with kwaito as he grew older. “I attended music festivals showcasing the genre and instantly fell in love with it,” he said.
Qwabe looked up to kwaito giant, Arthur Mafokate. “Arthur is a pioneer of this music genre. He popularised it with his hot songs and influenced artists like Mandoza, TKzee and Trompies. I saw myself doing something similar.”

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He started working as a resident DJ for a company in 1997. “I started to DJ for Happy Sounds. I learned a lot about the music industry and how to carry yourself through this experience,” he said.
Qwabe stepped down for a while and became a taxi driver. “That was the most dreadful time for me as I wanted to make my dreams a reality, my heart was fully into music.”
He met an old friend in 2014 and they got together for a good cause.
“We teamed up to campaign against piracy as it was putting artists at a disadvantage. Again things did not end well for me, and I took a break.”
Qwabe persevered and started making music again. “I love it with all my heart, so I made an EP. I had the most fun while I was composing my songs. It was produced by DJ Black Cat,” he said.
The EP features the popular track, “Ex Yami”, featuring Nozzi. “The song has been a huge success and has been playing on local radio stations. I am fulfilled and happy that I finally succeeded.”