Lady Du

Dudu Ngwenya, popularly known as Lady Du, is a singer, rapper, dancer and songwriter hailing from Vosloorus. The grand-daughter of Alias - the owner of the first nightclub in Vosloorus’ townships, daughter of DJ Choc and niece of YFM’s DJ Zan-D; music flows through her DNA. Beginning her journey as a Hip Hop DJ at age 9, she’s always held music close to her heart. “Music was my place of safety,” Lady Du shares. “It was my only escape.” It was after receiving a bursary to study somatology in London that Lady Du would find a worldly escape. Traveling across 108 countries in a year, she took in the sights and sounds that would mold her as both a person and artist. “I gained a lot of ideas from travelling,” she says. “I studied other people and brands like Slum Village, Aaliyah, Will Smith and J Dilla.” That desire to uplift people would influence her songwriting style and help distinguish her brand. “An artist is just a vessel people can use,” Lady Du says. “I represent kasi people and write songs so you can understand that vision”. She has since been rocking the charts through her work with a slew of artists, including DJ Mshega, Busiswa, DBN Gogo, DJ T-Man, Boohle, DJ Maphorisa, Boity, Kamo Mphela and Naak Musiq. Her Junior De Rocka-assisted “Catalia” has amassed over 1 million YouTube views and millions of streams across DSPs while her contribution to one of South Africa’s biggest amapiano hits - Busta 929 and Mpura’s “Umsebenzi Wethu” - has received high acclaim.