Growing up in Free State’s gold fields - Welkom, he used to hunt mice, play soccer and was one of the fastest athletes in his province at some point in his high school life.
Even as wonderful as his childhood was in the township, he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that being mugged or stabbed was one street corner away.
When he thought about the future, young Sello Lesholi wanted to either be lawyer, investigative journalist or forensics official, but life had other plans for him.
By the time he was 15, he had already fallen in love with music, DJing to specific.
This was sparked by seeing Vinny DaVinci and Christos playing their sets back-to-back at the Griffons rugby stadium in 2006. Sello told his friend, Tebogo Tlaletsi that he will one day create the music magic that he witnessed.
Even with him knowing exactly what he wanted to pursue after high school, he chose to study further at Central university of technology.
“Since that 2006 experience, I just wanted to finish school with good grades (marks) and qualify for varsity and push from there. I was supposed to be a DJ back in 2010 but I didn't want to disappoint my parents, I went to Bloemfontein to study so I did just that.”
After studying I.T web and development, he went on to become an I.T support technician and an event organiser but not even these made him forget about his DJing dream.
Read More | Precious Nkadimeng, Big Brother Titans finale watch party DJ, aka Spokenpriestess, is one to watch
In 2021, the father of one went to African Eskimo DJing school to learn the ins and outs of being behind the decks.
And just like that, Django was born.
Speaking to Drum about the inspiration behind this stage name, Sello says, “Django is from a movie called Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx, the name made sense based on my struggles and how I wanted to set myself free from the chains and do my own thing.”
One year later, his craft and skills were affirmed when the crowd lost their minds to his two-hour set at Sjava’s one man show at the Durban ICC.
This set also makes it to the top of the list of his highlights on the DJing journey thus far.
“That's one night I will never forget,” he says as he reminisces on the night.
Because he is already a familiar face due to his event organising hustle, the 33-year-old says breaking through the industry has been a bit easier for him.
For him, the goal is “to become one of the best to ever do it in the Free State. To be honest, there's a huge gap in the industry, some artists just see themselves as artists only and not brands. I want to bring or throw the ladder for others to climb up once I make it. I will plug as many people as I can as long as I'm still active and after.”
By virtue of teaching young artists how to navigate the music world, amapiano DJ and producer JazziQ is his inspiration.
Read More |RISING STAR | From Sekhukhune to the world, Limpopo deep house DJ on getting into the music industry
Although it has only been a year since he officially became a DJ, he has recognised gaps to fill in the industry.
“The industry is very vile, gatekeeping will never stop because certain people feel that the shine belongs to them. I would like to reduce or stop gatekeeping, too many people are going into depression due being exploited by clubs and OGs (legends) of the game.”
His trick is not being predictable behind the decks.
“When performing, people should always look forward to your sets knowing that they will always hear something different. The only way to survive and make a sustainable living is to keep working smarter and harder each day, being different gets you more bookings.”
Recently, Django merged his event organising and DJing skills to host his own man show in Bloemfontein.
In the next five years, he sees himself setting the decks on fire overseas and even going as far as being a resident DJ in Ibiza.
Wizkid, Burna Boy, Focalistic, Jesse Suntele, Da Capo, Morda, Sjava are just some of the artists he would like to work with in the near future.
Later this year in September, Sello will be releasing his debut EP later this year, The Life of Django: Camps Bay to Santorini.
