Dr Duda

“Sounds of Heaven” is where, at the age of 8, Dr . Duda (born Sipho Mphahlaza ) started toying around with the keys. Since then Dr. Duda has be come a consummate beatmaker who has impacted the music scene so much that he is held in high esteem and affection by fans and peers alike. He is one of the most recognisable faces and voices of dance music across South Africa and beyond. Dr. Duda plays a variety of music instruments but his strength is the keyboard, thanks to the time he spent with “Sounds of Heaven”, a church outfit he played for while a mere 8-year-old.

Having encountered his commercial successes like “Kasie Kulcha”, the platinum seller “The Anthem”, the runaway hit single “Latin Soul”, including his new and unstoppable “Stimela saseZola (Trapmix)”, one can’t deny that, for Dr. Duda, this burgeoning discography conjures up an image of no less than a trusted pane of notated melody that embraces the vital rudiments of a record, a symbolisation containing sedulous packing of pieces of music and chord development. But this account is to be expected, considering Dr . Duda’s distinguished musical influences – Quinton Harris, Leela James, Fourplay, Stimela, to mention just a few, and his association with DJ Fresh (when his work was licenced for “Definition of House 2”) as well as with labels like Phezulu Records and Soul Candi Records.

It is impossible to imagine the illustrious, multi-platinum and multi-award winning South African assemblage called Mi Casa without Dr. Duda, himself a SAMA nominee for Best Dance Album SAMA 13 (House Prescription with Dr. Mbee). Renowned for their unforgettable performances, Mi Casa is a cosmopolitan, sought-after eclectic band which has released four albums to date, the albums whose product ion, arrangement, mixing, musical direction and synchronisation is work of the adept Dr. Duda.

To explain his attitude towards music and its consumption, Dr. Duda had this to say: “Others make music. That’s great. But with music lovers in mind I purposely walk into the studio to prepare nourishment for the soul, delicacies that are at once musically elegant yet universally appealing. ”Clearly, Dr. Duda’s fresh and different journey is the type that starts anew everyday, the type whose end is always the beginning.

If you aren’t already hooked on Dr. Duda’s work, be sure to look him up within the leaves of any credible gig guide that has Mi Casa on the billing. What is a party, afterall, without a DJ as eminent as Dr. Duda?