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DJ Winnie

Arts Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN turntable queen DJ Winnie is rocking the scene in South Africa, getting many gigs and attracting the interest of some of the top producers across the Limpopo. Winnet Nyaradzo Chinyanga — as her birth registry details are captured — wants to do things on her own terms. The 26-year-old intends to take Zimdancehall to another level as she rises to the top of the game.

She reckons that is the X-factor she needs to survive an industry in which today’s heroines are tomorrow’s villains. “I am dreaming big, I want to go further with music and even venture into producing my own beats and get recognised like DJ Khalid,” she said.

“I have to stay unique in this game and my strength is my ability to identify with both Zimbabwean and South African music, that ability makes my set unique. One minute I am playing Mafikizolo and the next minute it’s Freeman. Very few people can juggle beats in such a manner. It keeps the audience guessing and dancing.” DJ Winnie admits that she is not your everyday kind of woman. The journey to being “abnormal” started when her mum passed on when the girl we now know as DJ Winnie was only 13.

“When my mum died I was became the only female in a house full of men, my dad and four brothers, who loved music so much that they would play drums at home and made it difficult for me to watch movies. Slowly I took an interest in music and when it got better when I moved to SA in 2011 as I became friends with a group of deejays who encouraged me to try my hand at it as well.”