The Chronicle
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
ASAPH has done it. ShaSha has done it and the latest Zimbabwean to join the elite group of Zimbos signing with big record labels beyond our borders is Young DCL (real name Darlington Chikwewo).
The super-talented producer and artiste, has put pen to paper on a record deal with the South African label, Next Music which will release his music internationally from now on.
Young DCLHe joins a stellar roster of talent which includes Nakhane, Mathew Cole, Kanen Zoid and Miriam Makeba just to name a few. His first single is set to be released at the end of this month.
Born and bred in Harare, the Hatfield-based versatile electronic dance music artiste, producer, songwriter, and DJ is well-known for his Coke Studio Africa gig, as a two-time resident producer (2017 and 2019), where he produced all remixes, covers and Christmas songs from Nairobi, Kenya.
As Young DCL committed his creativity to Next Music, Matthew Fink (Next Music producer), Dave Penhale (Sony Music Publishing Creative Manager) and Charles Kuhn Next Music CEO) played witness to the signing of the deal.
From right Matthew Fink – Producer Next Music, Dave Penhale Creative Manager Sony Music Publishing, Charles Kuhn CEO Next Music and producer Young DCLThe young producer told Saturday Leisure that his new journey with Next Music filled him with excitement.
“I’m excited and energised by this deal with Next Music. I’m looking forward to releasing music with an international focus,” simply said Young DLC.
He has his own label, Wewo Music, and has worked with top Zimbabwean artiste, Jah Prayzah.
Out of the five songs they have done together, two of them, Porovhoka and Svovi already have over a million views on YouTube.
In terms of sound, Young DLC, is quiet versatile, but lovers of Major Lazor, Metrobooming, DJ Maphorisa, or DJ Snake are more likely to fall in love with his Afro-flavoured electronic beats ranging from Afrobeats, EDM, House, and Pop to Gqom.
Young DCL is also part of the electronic music production duo called Matta Motto (Young DLC and Tristan Coetzee) and they have released two projects with Gigi Lamayne and Nigerian artiste Praiz.
The talented artiste also co-produced Mlindo’s Ngi Thanda Wena with Maphorisa, featuring ShaSha, a song that generated more than three million streams on YouTube without an official video.
Young DCL signing the Next Music deal (Photo by Wewo Music)This year, the 25-year-old collaborated on an EP with Bryan K (Zim) with two songs that made it to the Zim radio charts.
He also collaborated with the former National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) Outstanding Male Musician TiGonzi on a project called “Mufaro” which is also on Zimbabwean radio charts.
Young DLC is credited as the producer of the BET Africa Isono opening sequence, a project he undertook in 2020.
Through Coke Studio Africa, the biggest music TV show on the continent, Young DLC staked a claim on fame, having worked with African music heavyweights.
A statistical smorgasbord has seen him working with more than 20 acts including the likes of Patoranking (Nigeria), Olamide (Nigeria), AKA (South Africa), Shekinah (South Africa), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Kiff No Beat (Côte d’Ivoire), Rayvanny (Tanzania), Kaligraph Jones (Kenya), Nasty C (South Africa), Runtown (Nigeria), Mr Bow (Mozambique), Liloca, Jami Band (Ethiopia), Sami Dan, Laura Beg, Eddy Kenzo (Uganda), and many more artistes featured on the show.
Young DCL is no stranger to the grandest of stages as his works have enjoyed attention in the past. In 2016, he collaborated with Sylent Nqoe and they released their single in February 2017.
The upbeat house single called “Be My Girl” enjoyed massive airplay on Algoa FM and peaked at number 5, spending 15 weeks on the charts.
His big break was when he was cast as a guest producer on Coke Studio SA 2016 where he produced for hip hop artiste, Aewon Wolf and pop artiste, Jade McDonalds, on a song titled “Run Away” which was playlisted on many local commercial radio stations.
Young DLC pursued his music studies at Soul Candi Music Institute in South Africa where he studied Electronic Sound Production and ended up getting signed to Sony Publishing South Africa as a producer and songwriter in 2017.
His work ethic has seen him working on Mnet TV shows, The Voice SA and Celebrity Nights.
– @eMKlass_49
Article Source: The Chronicle