[FEATURE] UNCLE WAFFLES IS AN AMAPIANO QUEER ICON + ‘WADIBUSA’ IS THE PROOF

This Spring, Swazi DJ and producer, Uncle Waffles, released the visuals for ‘Wadibusa’ and they could not get more iconic.

The video is a celebration of Queerness, sensuality, Amapiano and the power of social media. It all starts with two stunning women racing with fast cars, a scene that we are used to seeing dominated by the XY chromosome. This subtle suggestion implies Uncle Waffles has something big planned for the following clips.

Fast forward to the start of the song… it’s time to scream, as Uncle Waffles features a line-up of SEVEN Queer people in gorgeous dresses and heeled boots. Needless to say the staging is impeccable: coordination, empowerment and a stunning embracement of one’s feminine energy.

With Uncle Waffles being an African artist whose fanbase is majorly of African heritage, her take on using her platform to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community is admirable and inspirational. In this video, Uncle Waffles is telling us that not only she is ‘a friend of the Gays’, but that she is going to celebrate us and give us a space in the room that she has access to. The above, followed by a surprising kiss at the end of the video makes ‘Wadibusa’ a masterpiece that resembles the progress in the black music industry. 

The video features several dancing scenes, of which Uncle Waffles is tremendously passionate. Legwork, twerk, ballet, you name it – ‘Wadibusa’ has it all; including a nod to the TikTok trend around ‘Twashala Bam’. Yes, that dance breaking the internet that looks easy but it is far from that.

And the truth is, Uncle Waffles really knows how to optimise her social presence, as she promoted ‘Wadibusa’ with such success, that many knew the song and dance way before it was officially released. The official TikTok sound for the song currently has over 118,000 videos, with ‘Wadibusa’ content featuring the song counting for millions of views. We can confidently say that it’s set to be our summer 2024 song.

Is TikTok a new tool to prioritise as a music artist? We asked International DJ Mercedes Benson about her take on the topic, to which she said, “I’m absolutely here for using social media as a tool to amplify your skills and the music that you are about to release; I think it really is the future and how we as artists need to be marketing ourselves.” She continued, “What I love about Uncle Waffles is that she has utilised her social media to really push her career more than any label could possibly do for her, and she’s has created a community of fans around the world that get to experience her directly through but her platform, which 20 would have not been the case 20 years ago.”

If you haven’t seen it, watch Wadibisa’s official video, and follow Uncle Waffles on TikTok for BTS content. Let us know your thoughts via our Instagram account @vipermagazine.

Words by Chris Maho