Artist Profile :: Zuki

by Osani Balkaran

From rocking the party as a DJ and creating diverse beats, Zuki has played and created unique styles and dispensed groove for several years now. From adolescence to young adult  Zuki travelled the globe finally settling in Winnipeg at the age of 20. Through these travels he was able to experience the world for what it is, and never fought it, just embraced it.

Today we know him as DJ Zuki but like many other musicians Zuki has had a gradual and humbling beginning into the world of music. Starting off with modesty and a pinch of inquisitiveness, DJ Zuki ventured into the world of  DJing in his early 20’s. Through learning and growing he met other creatives like himself, and later decided to do his first DJ show with his musical friend Anthony OKS. They were rocking the party and going further than they had ever thought or expected when they received their first residencies at Bar Italia, a local bar in the city of Winnipeg.

DJ Zuki was also becoming more involved in creating beats. Eventually DJ Zuki, the young creative began playing many live shows, made amazing remixes and created a whole new world of instrumentals. Starting off curious and modest DJ Zuki made beats on his own. Learning the craft and grasping the fundamentals, Zuki was able to make a beat that people liked, however, Zuki wasn’t into making just likeable music, he wanted to disrupt the average listener’s experience. 

This authentic style allowed for beats that are meant to take you out of what you’re doing, double back, and figure out what you just heard and then put it on repeat.

Zuki approaches beats with great awareness of what he’s doing; he draws inspiration from horns from Cuba and talking drums from Nigeria. These instrumentals give the listener a throwback and journey. The beats are mostly instrumentals with no vocals which lets the listener go into a realm of the mind that they may have never been before. With precision and thoughtfulness Zuki has added layers and resolutions in a way that catches the listeners attention giving the music moments of breath. 

As of now, Zuki studies the craft of making beats and recently performed his first beat showcase live. If you are one of the few lucky audience members to have heard his first live show at the Anthony OKS E.P. release in March 2020 consider yourself blessed as it was a show that was amazing and an intimate experience that he hopes to bring more of  in the future.

Lately because of COVID-19 Zuki has created the most he’s ever done and hopefully in 2021 we will get to hear what he has been working on.