Broadcast Live On http://truemusic.boilerroom.tv/
Boiler Room and Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky, a Pernod Ricard brand, today announce South Africa as the next stop on its 2019 True Music tour which will touch down in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town from Thursday 19th September for three amazing showcases. Promising to Take A Stand For True Music, the project is part of Ballantine’s commitment to push True Music scenes forward and support artists, fans, crews and communities around the world, by spotlighting the home-grown talent redefining their local scenes.
South Africa is known for its vibrant musical history, from soul and jazz in the 60s, to kwaito and house in the 90s. Today is no different, with each city home to a myriad of thriving underground scenes and sounds, spearheaded by pioneering artists who are weaving self-expression, fashion and performance through their music. By working in close collaboration with local innovators to host line-ups that feature emerging and established talent from each city it visits, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music tour will shine a light on these diverse, inclusive communities and share them with the world.
The first stop on the multi-city tour is Johannesburg. On Thursday 19th September, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will bring together a lineup of artists creating the future sounds of South Africa within the alternative, experimental and LGBTQ+ communities; these are the artists redefining and reinterpreting the established sounds of kwaito, gqom, afropop, hip hop and house. Performing live on the night; Sho Madjozi, one of South Africa’s brightest stars, SA’s poet and rapper Busiswa, buzzing electronic duo Stiff Pap, DJ, performance artist and activist Queezy, rising DJ star Doowap, and founder of Vogue Nights Jozi, Lelowhatsgood.
For the first time, on Friday 27th September Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will head to Durban for the ultimate Gqom line-up. This limited capacity show will be headlined and hosted by pioneer DJ Lag, and his hometown event Something for Clermont. DJ Lag propelled the Durban sound way beyond the city, straight into the international music zeitgeist; Beyoncé recently enlisted him for Lion King track ‘My Power’.
DJ Lag’s Something For Clermont, taking place in the township he was born and raised in, features a handpicked line-up of gqom stalwarts and those he recognises as the future generation of the genre. The line-up will be announced early September.
On Wednesday 23rd October Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music will host the third and final instalment of the South Africa tour in Cape Town, celebrating a city that prides itself on an eclectic musical landscape with diverse experimentation of underground hip hop, kwaito and electronic music.
This unrivalled line-up of the city’s emerging hip-hop and rap artists is not to be missed. Hosted by Crayons, one of the most talked about streetwear brands and party promoters in the underground scene, the line-up features the artists leading a new-era of the city’s hip hop scene. The line-up will be announced in late September.
Via video content and interviews with the artists and wider True Music community in each city, Boiler Room x Ballantine’s aims to tell the stories of these boundary-breaking music communities and the opportunities they are carving for themselves to the wider world. Following the tour, the True Music project will continue to support these scenes through a soon-to be-announced initiative created in collaboration with one of the communities the tour has visited.
Ballantine’s Head of Music, Tom Elton, said of the project: “We are so excited to be heading back to South Africa with Boiler Room. The diverse and dynamic music scenes in this country continue to surprise us as they don’t stop evolving and always deliver somethingnew. We’ve spent a lot of time in Johannesburg and Cape Town in recent years but have learned no two visits are ever the same, so to be heading back and adding Durban to the mix, somewhere completely new for our partnership, is amazing.”
Boiler Room Founder and CEO, Blaise Bellville, added: “South Africa has proven to be a huge success for the Boiler Room and Ballantine’s shows with some of the worlds richest music history and forward thinking sounds. This year’s Spring tour shows the breadth of what is happening musically across the country, from big bold experimental live performances by some of the best female acts coming out of Joburg right through to the next wave of gqom and hip hop in Durban and Cape Town respectively.”
RSVP for the show here and find out more on True Music, https://truemusic.boilerroom.tv/.
About Ballantine’s:
Ballantine’s is the No.1 Scotch whisky in Europe and the No. 2 Scotch whisky in the world with the range selling over 70 million bottles a year worldwide. Ballantine’s has won more than 130 trophies and medals at international competitions in the past 10 years for its outstanding quality, as a result of its unique richness of character and perfect balance. The range, from Ballantine’s Finest to the exclusive 40-Year-Old, is the most extensive in the world of Scotch and is maintained by Master Blender Sandy Hyslop, continuing the brand’s tradition of Master Blenders that dates back to 1827.
About Pernod Ricard:
Pernod Ricard’s intent is to ‘Bring Good Times from a Good Place’ – to create a more convivial world, a world without excess. As the world’s leading premium spirits and champagne company we provide brands of origin such as Jameson Irish whiskey, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet in the Scotch whiskies portfolio, Absolut Vodka, Beefeater gin, Martell cognac, Red Heart rum and G.H.Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagne. Based in France, the company has 86 affiliate operations around the globe – adopting a consumer-centric approach to marketing and doing business in local markets. In South Africa, Pernod Ricard has been building brands and creating conviviality for 25+ years. As passionate hosts we bring people together, to connect, share and celebrate in the spirit of conviviality – believing, always, in the virtues of responsible consumption. As respectful guests we strive to protect the environments in which we live, to the benefits of our
consumers, our business and our planet.
About Ballantine’s x Boiler Room True Music:
Since first partnering in 2013, Ballantine’s and Boiler Room have explored and celebrated the stories of 28 local music scenes from across three different continents. Together, they have collaborated with more than 220 artists, the sets of which have been enjoyed by 115 million music fans who have experienced the live-streamed events, documentaries and music content featuring the likes of Maya Jane Coles, Seth Troxler, Nina Kraviz, Underground Resistance, Chaos in the CBD and Derrick May. In 2016 they launched a global platform, True Music, championing pioneering artists. Now moving into its new phase, Take A Stand For True Music, the partnership seeks to elevate the music communities behind-the-scenes, collaborating on a grassroots level to ensure local music scenes thrive across the globe.
About Boiler Room:
Boiler Room is an independent music platform and cultural curator. We connect club culture to the wider world, on screen and in real life though parties, film and video. Everything Boiler Room does is rooted in the energy of club culture and its ability to bring people together. Open dancefloors; where music, ideas and people meet.
About our history: Boiler Room started with a webcam taped to a wall, broadcasting from a warehouse in London, opening a keyhole to the city’s underground. DIY at its finest; raw, uncut, homemade. Since 2010, the platform has built a unique archive: featuring over 4,000 performances, by more than 5,000 artists, spanning 150 cities, enabling everyone regardless of where they live to enjoy the freedom it stands for. Our remit is to platform music in new ways – sound on for the voices and stories of the fringes of the mainstream.