Black Motion

Black Motion are a South African electronic duo known for blending house music with lively indigenous percussion as well as multilingual vocals with an array of guests from the country's thriving dance music community. Their 2011 debut, Talking to the Drums, helped establish them as leading purveyors of the burgeoning South African house scene. Over the coming years, they found international success, charting a diverse course that kept the pulse of the dance world while rooting itself in the myriad cultures of their native land with albums like 2016's award-winning Ya Badimo and 2018's Moya Wa Taola.

Made up of DJ/producer Robert Bongani Mohosana and percussionist Thabo "Smol" Mabogwane, the pair collaborated in the town of Soshanguve, north of Pretoria. Both musicians came of age during the house music boom of the '90s and when they formed Black Motion in 2010, their aim was to infuse it with a more regional identity. Embracing native drums and other instrumentation, they also made use of guest vocalists singing not only in English, but in indigenous languages like Zulu and Tsonga. They found early success with songs like "Banane Mavoko" and "Set Me Free," both of which ended up on their 2011 debut album, Talking to the Drums. A follow-up album, Aquarian Drums, arrived in 2012 and over the next few years, Black Motion began making appearances internationally from Europe to North America, attracting new audiences with their dynamic live shows