By Mcebo Maggz ( intern)
The remix used to be one of hip-hop's most communal traditions a way for artists to trade verses on the same beat and turn one record into a shared space. That practice has grown rare in recent years, which is what makes Eswatini producer Bab' Dlamini's latest project stand out.
This Friday, the DJ and producer known as Big Facata releases Shimpilika Remix, a reworking of his February single that pulls in seven artists from across the region. Eswatini's Oriiginelle, Grixxly, Sean Cast, Ncwiki Flex, Thaifo Son and MCO Jamrock join South Africa's Nino Fresko on the track, each contributing their own verse rather than a single guest feature bolted onto the original.
The title comes from the siSwati word for slide, a fitting reference for an artist whose reputation has been built on the energy he generates live, from club floors to festival stages. The original Shimpilika, featuring Sean Cast, arrived on 6 February and followed Bab' Dlamini's 2025 debut single Zazazel, which featured fellow Eswatini artists Amarii and Mad Uno.
Bab' Dlamini's route into music started in 2022, when he began producing beats from his bedroom using Virtual DJ for local Swati artists. Friends who noticed his instinct for reading a crowd encouraged him to move into DJing, and by 2023 he was performing live on professional CDJs. A run of open-deck sets led to a performance at a Friends of Piano show, which pushed him toward recording his own material.
That side of his career gained momentum quickly. Zazazel reached beyond Eswatini's borders, drawing attention from actor Lemogang Tsipa, known for the title role in Shaka iLembe. Earlier this year, Bab' Dlamini also became the first DJ to spark a full mosh pit at the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival, around the same time Zazazel grew into a viral dance trend.
His stage name traces back to his earlier work as a podcaster, where listeners took to calling him Ntate father, in Sesotho for his measured, articulate delivery. He later reshaped that nickname in siSwati as Bab' Dlamini, tying his artist identity directly to his heritage. A music video for Shimpilika Remix is expected to follow the track's release.
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