Hot off the heels of their debut release from SMI feat Shea Soul with ‘Just Fine’, Makin’ Moves continue their house-work with a fantastic new single plucked from rhythmic shores of South Africa. ‘Don’t Go’ is a beautiful and deep afrocentric song from Jo-burg producer star DJ Qness and features the soothingly soulful tones of Xoli M. Two top class remixes come from NYC’s Quentin Harris who delivers his signature soulful heat, pinned together by a massively infectious synth bass hook. He then pulls out all the stops and arrives full armed with a menacing dub mix, cleverly toying with the vocal to a haunting soundtrack of punchy synth stabs and innovative tech-beats, ripe for the small hours!
Hailing from the dance-cultured streets of Johannesburg in South Africa, Qness first entered the musical scene as an RnB singer in a boy band at school. He moved on to hip hop in upper grade where he was also produced a high school band with friends, before being catapulted into dance music. Qness began to experiment with dance music at home, while analysing the scene, which at the time was mostly dominated by international renowned DJ’s and producers such as Louie Vega, Nick Holder, Masters at Work and many other House greats. With his PC at home and a healthy party scene to explore in both Johannesburg and Pretoria, he began his musical journey. By 2008, Qness had already acquainted himself with some of South Africa’s most influential DJs and producers and industry players . His first single ‘Fugama Unamathe’ featured some indigenous African vocals and percussion and the amazing vocalist Oluhle. It went on to become a critically acclaimed crossover dance hit in South Africa and beyond when Belgian based Boddhi Satva signed it to his Offering Records label. Qness has already remixed work for greats such as M.I.A with ‘XXXO’, along with hip hop mogul Jay Z, as well as Kele from Bloc Party, among others. The success of ‘Fugama Unamathe’ in South Africa was immediately followed up by his single ‘Uzongilinda’ featuring Malehloka (SoWHAT Records) which then lead on to his debut album ‘DJ Qness – On Cue Vol.1′. The album spawned singles including ‘Time’, ‘Believing’ (originally a collaboration by UPZ and Kafele) and ‘Bambelela’. Qness is also South Africa’s very first celebrity, face of, spokesperson and brand ambassador for the fashionable and very stylish Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, manufactured by the super power, Monster Cable Company.
Singer/songwriter Xoli M was born in KZN and grew up in Pretoria, Soshanguve. She Started her journey of in music in 2010 when she recorded her first hit track ‘Set Me Free’ alongside Blackmotion and recently signed wth Strongroots Entertainment. Ixoli has worked with a host of talented music extraodinares and producers including DjQness, Mckenzie (Rhythmic elements), SirJavas, Afrikaroots , DjSylivi and DjMalvado.
In the hermetically sealed world of dance music, where genres split tangentially with regular and bewildering regularity, there are a few whose music is expansive enough to cross barriers, ignore micro-idioms and appeal to many. Of course, there are a few exceptions to the rule and one such exception is DJ/Producer/Remixer, Quentin Harris. Quentin has remixed a plethora of stars from Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey to Femi Kuti to Toni Braxton to Rihanna. In addition to ‘Don’t You Forget About Us’ from Mariah and ‘Not Like Crazy’ by Jill Scott, one of his benchmark rubs was a sneaky re-production of Leela James’ ‘My Joy’ transforming her dynamite blues jam into classic deep house. Aside of his massive singles including ‘Let’s Be Young’, ‘Give It 2 U’ with Ultra Nate and ‘Poor People’ with Monique Bingham, Quentin has penned 2 fantastic albums ‘No Politics’ and ‘Sac•ri•five’. He continues to rock the dance floors of the world with his unique energy and divine sounds.
TRACKLISTING
1 Original Mix
2. Instrumental
3. Dub
4 Quentin Harris Re-Production
5 Quentin Harris Instrumental
6 Quentin Harris Dub
You can catch the Makin’ Moves Radio Show every Saturday on www.housefm.net from 6-8pm (GMT) with Matt, Jamesy and Jihad on rotation.
‘Don’t Go’ will be released on Traxsource Promo 12th November / Full release 10th December 2012 2012 on Makin’ Moves (UK)
TRACK PREVIEWS
MAKIN002 – DJ Qness – Don’t Go Instrumental Mix
MAKIN002 – Don’t Go Quentin Harris Reproduction
MAKIN002 – Don’t Go Original Mix
MAKIN002 – DjQness feat. Xoli – Don’t Go Quentin Harris Dub