Girl DJs – the next generation

. . . Motimposo female DJ makes her mark

’MAKERESEMESE LETUKA

MASERU – Motimposo-bred female disc jockey, DJ Nelo, is living proof that the art of disk-jockeying is genderless and that the knobs and faders welcome both male and female hands, despite male dominance in the industry. Born Kananelo Malea, the 22-year-old DJ Nelo, who is currently studying towards an Associates Degree in Public Relations at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT).

She describes herself as a visionary, a fashionista, a model, a brand ambassador and, to top it all, a Hip-Hop DJ. Her interest in music has been life-long because she comes from a family whose lives revolve around music, it’s a family thing and music is their culture.

However, she started taking serious interest in music in 2019 and in 2020 she finally went all out. DJ Nelo has played at several gigs, but she picks the highlights of her career as playing at events like Forever Drip, CoolKidz Picnic and the Jungle Party.

“To be honest, being a female DJ in a male-dominated Hip-Hop environment comes with its pros and cons, but it has been quite fruitful because I have been given a lot of advice from certain people, they have chipped in by helping me pave my way in the industry and that is what I will always be grateful for. “However, to females who wish to join the industry…I think while I would encourage them to join the industry I would have to be honest with them about how the industry is once you get into it…why?

“Because most people think or rather see the industry all glitzy and glamorous but little do they know that once they get into it, it is a jungle in here, we hustle,” she states. She sees good things happening to most of our local artists in the country so to her there is a ray of hope for the entertainment industry in Lesotho.

“I honestly aspire to become the greatest female to ever hop into the male dominated industry, and secondly to become an inspiration to women who think they cannot do it, yet they also can.” DJ Nelo believes in the famous words of the late American RnB star Aaliyah who once said: “I want people to remember me as a full time entertainer and a good person.”

That means in years to come, she still sees herself pushing and doing the most in every area within the entertainment industry. “Locally, I look up to an artiste known as Unkle Krack, who happens to be my brother. I know he is not a DJ but since he is a Hip-Hop artiste he has taught me so much that I needed to know even before I got in the industry.”

She says he is one person who she has watched hustle his way up…and she admires him for that. Internationally, she has a couple of people that she observes doing what they do in the industry and in business. These include the likes of DJ Zinhle, one female DJ who tackles everything and still keeping up with her DJ side hustles.

“Being in the industry, I am glad to say I got recognized by one of the biggest telecommunications company in Lesotho and having to be their ambassador, is one thing I am very proud of. “With the challenges, I would say I have met many of them, but they have taught me how to keep my chin up and have a tunnel vision of what I want and still strive to get to where I want to be,” she notes.