Uncle Waffles: The Viral Sensation

Source: Kreative Kornerr

“I don’t want to only be remembered as the girl for the viral videos, that’s always going to be my start but that’s not going to be my finish”.

As Uncle Waffles joined me via Zoom whilst sat at a restaurant, that quote struck me. She is acutely aware of how fame has suddenly found her, however she has lofty ambitions to ensure she is no flash in the proverbial pan and seeks to cement her name within the creative industry. Uncle Waffles is constantly smiling with an infectious enthusiasm for life, and this is no surprise given what she has experienced over the last 12 months.

Uncle Waffles meteoric rise is an exception to the rule, it doesn’t just happen to anyone. Hailing from Swaziland, her blow up caught her by surprise as much as anybody else. Given an opportunity to perform at a gig in South Africa by media company Kreative Kornerr, she arrived with a backpack intending to stay for three days. It was her first performance which resulted in THAT viral video. Kreative Kornerr then asked her to stay in South Africa for more gigs, noticing potential star quality, and well, the rest is history.

Uncle Waffles comes across as incredibly grounded, and speaks on both the joys and difficulties of dealing with sudden fame, which includes the online hypercriticism that accompanies it. Uncle Waffles’ creative process is still very much fledgling in its journey, and she is someone that is still finding her feet. Perhaps expecting mastery in her craft now is far too soon given the 21 year was still an unknown entity a year ago. Uncle Waffles is currently navigating her practice hours on the world stage, yet some of the world’s most renowned artists had the luxury of doing such behind closed doors, or prior to their burst on to the scene.

In her short experience with fame, Uncle Waffles has demonstrated that she is a student of her discipline(s). She stands defiant against her critics, though maintains a willingness to learn. Whilst it is unclear what the future may hold for Uncle Waffles, she is determined to make her mark and repel rhetoric suggesting she is “just a pretty face”. We have seen her ability to bring life to the party, and now she is keen to make an indelible mark on the creative industry through multifaceted abilities, and too represent the Southern African region in inspiring fashion. Her love for music is unquestionable and is extremely thankful for what it has done for her so far. “Music just hits you”, she says, pointing to her heart, indicating just how much it means to her.

To understand Uncle Waffles as a human being, and her journey thus far, we spoke to her about her passions, influences and too a snippet on her future plans.

It’s been a mad year for you, let’s be real! But firstly, how are you doing?

I’m okay, I’m doing pretty well.

When you started going viral and you started seeing your face in the newspapers and on Twitter, how did that make you feel?

Initially, I was very overwhelmed but a part of me was like I am just gonna goof around for a while.. it’ll be a cool video but how it turned out was like no.. this is not just a cool video but instead it’s gonna complete launch me!

I was very overwhelmed by the love but of course the love comes with the latter because people want to knit pick.. or say whatever it is they want to say. Having to take everything in at once, an immense amount of love and immense amount of hate, it was a bit of a struggle. I have very severe anxiety so initially it was a bit of a struggle, but now I have just found the balance knowing that the love [of music] is what brought me here and what keeps me here, as well as the hard work but the love overtakes everything. So I think now I am at a place where there is so much good.. I am less anxious, less overwhelmed and I am very, very happy! [Uncle Waffles cannot help but smile]

How long have you been DJ’ing for? Is it something you have been doing for a while or was it quite recent?

Yes, I started learning during the pandemic when we had our first lockdown. It was six months of 8 hours a day, just trying to learn and understand it, and I started taking gigs this year in January

You were practising 8 hours a day?! That is practically like a full time job!

Yeah it is like a job, you have to dedicate yourself, as much as people make it seem like its potentially easy. I already knew that my struggle would be like people would say ‘she’s just a pretty face’, so I always knew that I had to be good at it (DJ’ing) to show no one has nothing to nit-pick, and even if they tried the reality is what it is.

Do you have any DJ’ing inspirations?

I didn’t have someone that I was looking up to… part of me felt like these things weren’t possible [aspiring to be like the DJ greats] given that I was just starting. I was like, maybe if I look at Black Coffee, it’ll be something that I achieve 10 years from now. I didn’t really have someone I was looking up to.. it was more so about ‘I actually really like this’, and I am going to try my best even on days where this [being Uncle Waffles] doesn’t seem like the right thing to do anymore, I still need to push!

So, I suppose DJ’ing was something that was always in you. But perhaps the pandemic gave you the time to really focus on this craft?

Absolutely. Prior to the pandemic, I was trying to go to school, and I couldn’t. When things started falling into place, I was at the bottom [at high school].. which was the worst thing that could happen to me. You know, as a young kid your parents are pushing you to go to school but I am not able to do because my grades were not that good, and I don’t have the means to go to school myself. At that point I was going to have to pay for myself, so I was at the bottom. Things start to play out [fall in to place] and you start DJ’ing, but even when you’re DJ’ing, sometimes things don’t go well. Right before the viral video, I was taking gigs for free, I was just trying to put my name out there.

Uncle Waffles… where does that name come from?

[Laughs] I need to start coming up with a very serious story, because everyone asks me! My friends came up with it at school.

Was it given to you as a joke?

It was! If you watch Teen Titans, Beast Boy and Cyborg had a waffles song, so my friends would sing it every day and then one of them decided that I am going to be waffles, and here we are today! It’s a real anti-climactic story, I know! But that’s what happened!

On a more personal level, would you say you are more introverted or extroverted?

I am actually quite awkward.. introverted. I am the most awkward person you could probably ever meet! I think when people meet me, they realise I am awkward and they say “oh you’re just normal”, and I am like “yeah I really am!” I don’t know how to act… when people scream at me, I scream back!

How do you spend your down time? Is there a particular TV series you’re watching now or artist you’re listening to?

I watch a lot of YouTube, Emma Chamberlain particularly and she is like my comfort, I don’t know why. She’s quite awkward and gives me comfort. I do also read a lot and music wise, I listen to Mereba. I like that type of music because it calms my spirit and I listen to a lot of Gospel. With this whole thing [being well known] comes with it a lot of internal battles, and so sometimes I feel like I need to connect and just come back to Earth

You were born in Swaziland right? Do you feel your setting a foundation for the world to learn more about Swaziland?

There is no creative space in my country, no creative funding.. we barely have any events that are successful. So I think with what happened to me, a lot people feel there is hope for talent because as much as they don’t have exposure, there is great talent (In Swaziland), very talented people, but we just don’t have the reach. I always say that ‘you can never make it at home’, I feel people don’t support you at home the (same) way other people support you. People are always going to South Africa (for exposure) e.g. the likes of Amanda Du-Pont, but you wouldn’t know because she decided to chase a dream and go to South Africa.

If there was a way to get more reach into countries where there is little reach, we can find very talented people. They just need help. Not everyone will have the faith that I had to take money and go to South Africa, go to promoters to promote themselves. Not everyone has that.

I notice you have been travelling the world recently, not to mention Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. How have you found travelling to new countries as part of your career?

Being someone who never travels, or going to different places every week.. I am meeting new people, they are so nice! I am struggling a bit with the food because I am very picky in general! But otherwise, I am having a great time! It’s cool to explore different cultures, and it shows there is a lot outside of you

Have you tried any new foods, and thought, yeah this is quite nice?!

The first time I’ve tried Jollof was in Ghana. I’ve also tried those snacks, plantain chips and they were so good! Most of the times, it was in places where you can’t get the actual traditional food but I try my best to try the main things… like Egusi!

Where do you feel you have been received the best?

Kenya is number 1! The Kenyan crowd was really young, and it was my first fully young crowd. That day, I spent 2 hours taking pictures because everyone wanted one, but even I wanted to take pictures with them because they showed me so much love. When I was on the decks, everyone was dancing! Keep in mind that most of these countries don’t know the words to the music but they still understand it!

Are there any other countries that you really want to perform in?

The UK! I would also love to go to Mozambique, because of the crowd there. I would also love to perform in Namibia, Botswana too. Other countries more so for selfish reasons, I mean.. Dubai, come on! That would be really nice. Ibiza! That would be great!

With fame comes negative press or comments as we know. How do you feel about recent comments on Twitter, where people are trying to police how you dress?

I always feel like people are trying to police a 21 year old. I don’t fully control my own Twitter, but because I want to still have a presence, I pop on here and there. I try my best not to be on it because then I get sucked into reading what everyone is saying and that affects me emotionally. People are allowed to have their own said morals, but once you’re trying to project your morals to someone, that’s not okay. People are saying “it’s too revealing” but if you actually see the outfits in real life, it’s like “is it really” [people on the internet exaggerating].

I get a lot of my [fashion] inspiration from the 2000s, and it was very common at that time [to dress in such a way] and I really liked it. So I started dressing like this, to be comfortable in myself. I feel like, people shouldn’t then look at how you dress as who you are. People should be allowed to be an individual

Who are these inspirations?

Saweetie. I really love her she dresses, it’s very ‘I’m a bad bitch’, ‘I’m on my money’, as well as video vixens from back in the day. I take a lot of inspiration from Aaliyah too, but in the modern day it has to be Saweetie, it’s very cool and they she can switch up and be so sexy, I love it!

Do you feel like this is more so a case of Twitter rather than what happens when people approach you in real life?

I think haters are fictional because those are the same people who want to watch you. So what happens is that they start buying tickets to come watch you, to prove themselves right yet you’re investing time in proving that someone you supposedly don’t like is not doing something right.

I’ve read that you’re planning to start releasing music yourself, is this true?

[Laughs] Yes!

Have you thought about a particular sound you’d like to explore?

I’ve been working with a lot of producers and have been listening to a lot of music daily to find my sound. Initially the sound I wanted to go for was something slower but as I am growing into my brand, I am realising that maybe not. But I will be releasing some stuff [soon].

I feel like you’re going to be someone who is very multifaceted creatively. Is that what set out to do from the get-go?

Yes! That’s what initially I didn’t want to be called “DJ” Uncle Waffles. I wanted my brand to be something that is more than just a DJ. Yes, the fundamental may be a DJ, but there are a lot of other things I’d like to go into

Like?

You gotta stay tuned!

What are the next steps for you?

To completely expand my brand and to.. there is a lot in the works! I don’t want to only be remembered as the girl for the viral videos, that’s always going to be my start but that’s not going to be my finish!