At just 23, Uncle Waffles carved a niche for herself in Afro-tech DJing, quickly pivoted to production, earning two multi-platinum records. She's received a BET Award nomination and made history at Coachella as the festival's first Amapiano artist. Yet, she believes she's just warming up.

Hailing from Eswatini but based in South Africa, 2023 is shaping to be her landmark year. Her journey, however, started with an unwavering belief in her musical passion. In her native Eswatini, a burgeoning nation, she felt the absence of a vibrant creative community. This lack led her to South Africa chasing her musical aspirations.

Although her parents championed her love for music, they harbored concerns. Starting her DJing journey as a teen and leaving college to embrace it fully, Waffles dared to walk a path less traveled, fueled by her dreams and passion.

“My mom has always been just like, ‘Do it but have a real backup plan.’ Initially, when my life changed, they didn't really understand it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, [that’s a] good video, okay. Yay. What does that mean?” Uncle Waffles told BET.com during a recent interview. “Now they’re definitely people who actually encourage parents to let their kids pursue things creatively.”

When she started, though, doubts about her ability and plan often filled Waffles' mind until she decided to listen to all of the positive guidance that surrounded her – externally and internally.

“The reality of how my blow-up happened was that there were a million voices around me, but I had to choose which voices to listen to,” she said of the beginning of her DJing career, which she also relays in her latest single “Echoes.” “So I listened to the voices that were encouraging me was essentially the God in me, that encouragement of someone telling me, ‘You can do it, don't let this go.’”

Thankfully for everyone, she continued her pursuit – and it wouldn’t take very long for the fruits of her labor to pay off quickly. Early last year, Waffles, like many DJs looking to expand their portfolio, decided to move into original production and announced her debut single, “Tanzania,” in April. From there, she dropped her debut EP, ASYLUM. This explosive and fast-paced effort produced the now-4x Platinum single “Yahyuppiyah,” and “Tanzania,” which went 7x Platinum in its own right.

The attention garnered from the two singles and debut project earned Uncle Waffles a BET Awards nomination for Best International Act. And while she didn’t take home the hardware (as Burna Boy was crowned the winner) the experience of attending the ceremony was magical for the Eswatini artist.

“Especially as a DJ, that was crazy getting there and seeing so much Black excellence and seeing so many artists that you never thought you'd actually be able to be in contact with,” she describes. “I cried when I first got the nomination. I cried at the awards. I was so happy. So so happy.”

The release of ASYLUM also heightened awareness of the Amapiano-inspired sonics via which Uncle Waffles creates her music. The South African-based house subgenre is still gaining steam, thanks to artists like her, Lady Du, Mr JazziQ, and The Scorpion Kings, among others.

“People were always expecting certain things from me and I didn't want that to be the case,” she explains. “Within piano, there's a lot of subgenres that are emerging. I wanted to show people that I can also catch the subgenres that are coming through within the genre itself.”

Now, after the Awards experience and becoming the first Amapiano artist to perform at Coachella, Uncle Waffles is using the hype to her advantage, releasing her latest project in August. Solace is a 7-track EP that is quite the departure from her debut. It’s much more ambient and relaxed, showcasing her style versatility and perhaps a more vivid snapshot of Waffles’ ability to write and tell her story.

“I want to start this to represent the part of my journey that is the good in my journey because ASYLUM was supposed to represent the chaos within the journey,” Waffles explains. “And I wanted Solace to be the final project because I also wanted it to be the main focus that, out of everything, I'm so grateful and I found so much happiness. I feel blessed that this journey chose me and I was able to be me.”

Stream Uncle Waffles’ latest EP, Solace, below.