From Meryl to Burna Boy, as well as Rema or Wizkid, GINGER BOY is now a leading DJ within the Afro sphere. And this is all thanks to the city that shaped his personality, his ambitions, and his path: Dakar!
GINGER BOY, Leading Afrobeat DJ – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
During the summer season so full of summer tours and festivals, I decided to talk with the “Afrobeat Alchemist” to learn more about his musical career, his influences, his connection with Mother Earth and his collaborative projects SSSOUND and La Base. Press play…
Herbby: What’s your first memory of music?
GINGER BOY: It was my big brother Youssef who got me into music, specifically West Coast US rap: Dr. Dre, Warren G, Xzibit… Back then, he’d download the songs and albums from LimeWire, put them in a folder and then onto MP3s on his USB! (laughs) I was listening to it all the time, but the first album I bought was JAY-Z’s The Black Album in 2003, at Carrefour d’Athis-Mons. It was amazing!
On set with GINGER BOY – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: How did you get into Afrobeat?
GB: I’m Franco-Moroccan and I advocate unity within the African continent. I’m proud to be French but Africa is my whole life, just like music. I’ve always loved African music but the turning point really came thanks to the Africa Is The Future mix by Walshy Fire and Fully Focus. It’s a playlist with all the bangers of the time, which I still play today in my sets. Besides them, Major Lazer’s Diplo and DJ Snake are my biggest inspirations. I really find myself in Diplo’s work and the fact that he experiments with all types of Afro sounds like Dancehall, Reggae, etc. So, I liked the mix so much that I started listening to different styles of African music and then my first trip to Senegal cemented my interest in the continent and its music scene.
GINGER BOY, leading Afrobeat DJ – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: Tell us a bit about how you started DJing: how you got started, how you trained, your inspirations, your first performances…
GB: Everything started from Dakar and it’s really a great story. I went there alone with my luggage to do my 4-month bachelor’s internship in 2015. I didn’t know anyone except my boss from the investment company… After a month, I was fed up. It was hard being alone there even if Senegal is a beautiful country. I was finally put in touch with Papi, “the genius of the country”, and we shared a 3-person apartment with his cousin, who’s a beatmaker. My internship was unpaid, and his cousin knew that I listened to a lot of music, so we went to a friend’s house on weekends, I put on the music on my phone and I cheered everyone up! One day he said to me, “Brother, you’re good at music. I’m a beatmaker, I’ll teach you how to mix and we’ll see what happens.” Since my best friend Rakoto 3000 was already a DJ, I didn’t want to be a DJ at all!
Finally, he taught me to mix. I loved it and we organized our first event with our platform, Dakar Lives, at the Biennale. I mixed it without a controller but with the pad on my computer… People were wondering what I was doing… (laughs) Afterwards, I got my first official booking thanks to Papi who was able to negotiate a big fee for the performance. I came with my computer again, without the controller – the guy was lost…
The big breakthrough then came thanks to YARD. Rakoto 3000 was already mixing at their events and one day I came across Yoan Prat, one of the founders, in a restaurant in Dakar. I’d done a set like Travis Scott, but people didn’t like it because it wasn’t a place where they listened to hip-hop. I befriended Yoan and he said, “When you get back to Paris, I’ll get you mixing at Wanderlust.” It was September 2016, and it was really hype to mix there at that time. And the rest is history!
Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Hand Crafted” worn by GINGER BOY – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: Today, you’re one of the leading Afrobeat DJs with guaranteed sets for Burna Boy, Wizkid, Rema, Guy2Bezbar, Meryl and more recently, Les Flammes. In your Instagram bio, you describe yourself as an “Afrobeat Alchemist.” How do you define this term?
GB: To me, an alchemist is a scientist who explores and blends to create alchemy. In Africa, there are countless styles of music: ndombolo, rumba, coupé-décalé, afrobeat… In my Afro sets, I make sure to play everything to take people on a journey! I go from 90 BPM to 130 then 140, I explore the North, the South, the East and the West of the continent, in a single set. I highlight Afrobeat in my Instagram bio, but I never forget that I’m also into Caribbean sounds. I think that in my career, the people who’ve helped me the most are the West Indians. Today, Afrobeat is my core business but really, I’m a DJ specializing in Afro-Caribbean music.
n set with GINGER BOY – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: You’re part of the SSSOUND trio with Rakoto 3000 and Hony Zuka. How did the group come about? On what level(s) do you complement each other as DJs?
GB: Rakoto 3000 and I grew up together in Juvisy and Hony Zuka was in Athis-Mons, 10 minutes from the city. We’ve known each other since we were little and that’s what makes us complementary, even outside of music. Before being a DJ, we were friends, so the foundation of our relationship is strong. Rakoto began mixing with YARD in 2013, as a pioneer of the new generation. Hony was an excellent dancer and, overall, a great creative. I went back to YARD in 2016 and Hony in 2017. In all honesty, we mastered the art of DJing and in 2017, Antoine from YARD decided to create a kind of residence with 4 DJs: all 3 of us and Andy 4000. Honestly, it was incredible for us, and it brought a new dynamic.
We saw that it was a hit and that we got along really well so we told ourselves that we’d do our own evening. Once again, shout-out to Antoine who helped us on this project, especially for our name “SSSOUND”, because it started from there. When we perform, we’re so complementary: our sets follow one another right, we play different styles of music and in a 5, 6-hour set, it’s perfect!
We also decided to team up because Rakoto mixed for OBOY, who’s now a superstar with gold and platinum records, while Hony mixed for Remy and now Tiakola. I started with Abu Tall then Meryl, and more recently, Guy2Bezbar. As a result, this partnership is so powerful. We mix for 3 big French hip-hop artists, so we had to make the brand grow and thanks to this move, “we popped”!
Air Jordan 5 Retro “Laney” worn by me – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: You’re also the founder of La Base, in Dakar. Can you tell us a bit about the concept?
GB: Senegal really gave me a second life at all levels, following my internship in 2015. Papi, Tha Fellaz and King Mouss trained me in everything but more importantly they gave me everything. I started mixing in Dakar, all the connections I’ve made in Paris and abroad are tied to my experience there. Basically: Senegal is the foundation!
There aren’t many parties for the new generation there and since I managed to make my way since my internship, I had to give something back to Senegal. King Mouss is “The Prince of Dakar”, he knows everyone and he’s really big in music. Tha Fellaz is a beatmaker from Mali who’s part of this big family. So, like SSSOUND, we said to ourselves: we’re brothers, we get along really well, we’re good at music, we’ve experienced everything in Senegal so we might as well work together. We started, we had our first evening in a restaurant in Dakar called Le Carré and it was a big hit! We were expecting 50 people, and, in the end, there were 250 of us. We kept going and we almost reached 900 people in one year.
Now we have La Base, a branch called The Bashment by King Mouss and the overall project has become a standard there. It’s a bit like SSSOUND in Senegal.
GINGER BOY, leading Afrobeat DJ – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: Of all your projects, parties, concerts and other festivals in which you participated, which one are you most proud of to date? Why?
GB: Basically, my biggest inspiration was Burna Boy and then that genius Rema came along… He brought such a breath of fresh air into the game. When I listened to Dumebi, I freaked out! He was only 19 years old when the song came out. He’s always making hits, always trying to innovate. Today he’s 23, I’m 29 and he’s become my biggest inspiration. So, for me, my biggest achievement is being a DJ for Rema. It’s an anointing that I could never have imagined in my whole life!
On set with GINGER BOY – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
H: What can we expect from GINGER BOY in the coming months?
GB: Right now, my goal is to make my identity and the GINGER BOY brand grow through music but also art, fooding, merch, etc. Then, it’s the same for SSSOUND with my brothers Rakoto 3000 and Hony Zuka.
And personally, in the long run, I’d like to be remembered in the world of Afrobeat. It’s good because, in a few months, I followed up with the first part of Burna Boy, Rema’s private party, then the first part of Wizkid, the first part of Rema’s tour, then Ruger and Ckay! All this, after meeting Burna Boy’s sister in Dakar… So, the goal for the next few months is to follow and stay at the heart of the Afrobeat scene.
GINGER BOY, leading Afrobeat DJ – Photo credit: @swelly_x on Instagram
