26 Oct 2023

His name might not instantly ring a bell to many, but he has taken his craft to greater heights and redefining the art of deejaying, both locally and across borders, manipulating his creativity to infuse other elements into his act.

Popularly known as ShiversBW, Aggrey Pule Molongwane has been progressively making his way to stardom and gradually making a name for himself as an Afro Tech DJ.

He is due to release a single with South Africa’s Rhythmic Elements member Mackenzie at the end of October.

The single, titled ‘Malatsi Ano’ is an Afro House track, which talks about the influence of modern lifestyle on people in general.

“I met Mackenzie during the Bak2Lala Comeback last year December, where he was a surprise act and the promoter called me in to DJ for Mackenzie,” ShiversBW said it was a pro-bono work, as he did not have any gig lined up then.

“After the Bak2Lala gig, Mackenzie showed interest and wanted us to go into the studio, where we recorded this song within a short time.

I resonated well with him, because he is a Motswana from South Africa. I have had the song since March, but I was busy with other projects and now it is out and will be on radio stations this November,” he said.

Opportunities to collaborate internationally did not stop with Mackenzie. ShiversBW is currently working with South Africa’s biggest brand duo group Black Motion on their next project.

“This came about just like others, where my songs were out there and they got some interest,” he said.

Without revealing too much on the project, ShiversBW confirmed that he would have a feature with Black Motion on their upcoming project after Rebirth of the Drum, which was just released in September.

“Our forthcoming collaboration will feature ShiversBW on our “Show Off” project, on a song he calls ‘Neon’.

The song is a banger and definitely a game-changer,” Black Motion’s Kabelo ‘ProblemChildTen83’ Koma said of the coming feature with ShiversBW. From playing in various pubs in 2013 where he met DJ Anthem, his music has always been a reflection of his cultural background.

Not surprising as his maternal family is from the Chobe, where there is a rich variety of song and dance, ranging from seperu and tsutsube. “I am influenced by culture and our roots as Batswana, and I used to call myself the tribal music man because whenever I made a song, it would feel incomplete without that Afrocentric vibe,” ShiversBW added.

His music journey goes back to 2006 after his Junior Certificate examinations break.

As a young person with so much time on his hands, technology, specifically the Internet, became his cave.

“This is when I learnt of Fruity Loops music production software. I would play around not knowing what I was doing because I had so much free time,” he chuckled.

But after a four-months break, he went back to finish his high school, and picked up in 2009 where he started deejaying and production.

“I focused and learnt the production side of music and along the way, I picked and settled for deejaying.” ShiversBW attributes DJ Anthem’s influence on him whilst working with him and has played a role on his growth in the industry.

“I worked with him for a long time and he influenced my stamp in the industry,” ShiversBW said, adding that he would work on the production and engineering of DJ Anthem’s singles.

In 2018, his career path in music changed just as a hungry young creative Hamza Tajbhai, otherwise known as Tau, reached out to him through Instagram and was determined to learn more.

“The way he approached me was different, and little did I know that his presence was the direction where my music was going and in the way I was doing music,” ShiversBW said.

He gave him the shots, and showed him the ropes of music production, as he was interested in that. When Tau pursued his music production studies in South Africa, ShiversBW’s break came with Tau putting his music out there.

“My first international break came in 2020. I got a call from Get Physical, a house music stable in South Africa.

Blanca Mazimela had just dropped an album with Soul Candy, and he had heard my music through Tau; that is when he reached out and told me he wanted the track for his album.” He said.

That is how his music got in the compilation and from there, it was easier for guys to get to know about him and would get random calls.

He also worked with Tumelo Ruele, a vocalist from South Africa and DJ Anthem, which also got him more recognition from the industry, not only at home but abroad.

A Risk Management graduate, ShiversBW also owns a recording label, Rural Chants Records, which he started in 2018. Currently, the label released a single ‘Moya’ by Mmamonnye as its first artist and the full album will be out late in November.

Although the record label has been around for a while, ShiversBW said they have only been releasing his EPs and singles only as they wanted to have a structure.

“To distribute music, we needed a structure and I had to register a company and land publishing and distribution deals,” he said. Advising aspiring musicians on making it in this industry, ShiversBW emphasized that music is a business and should be treated as such.

He said artists should engage teams and find ways of living off of their talents, but can only do so if they treat their craft as a business.

“Have a structure and have various individuals focusing on a project, refrain from keeping 100 per cent of everything, get experts to make magic out of your craft and make money out of it.

That way, you will have a vast stream of income,” he said. He said there are many ways to make money out of music without only selling of compact discs (CDs).

“Before digital migration, we made more money selling hard copies and doing performance shows, and our local scene caught up late on the use of digital platforms, which eventually resulted in music sales going down,” ShiversBW said.

He further advised artists to change with the times and make use of digital streams to make a livelihood out of digital platforms. ENDS