LISTEN | From acting to DJing — Mbali Nkosi shares journey to debut EP 'Elements'

Mbali Nkosi is gearing up to release her debut EP titled Elements on May 23.

In an exclusive interview with TshisaLIVE, the actress-turned DJ shared her inspiring journey of transitioning from acting to pursuing her passion for music and DJing. 

“It's something that's been a long time coming,” she said.

“Through the times, I kept saying I would do it but [you know how it is] with depression, and people don't understand how depression pauses everything. In between my acting I'd take lessons.”

With more than two decades of experience in acting, Mbali decided to take a bold step three years ago to enrol in a DJ school and launch her DJ career, but she's always been in the music scene.

Despite being part of an industry surge of female DJs, Mbali's journey into music began long before she became a popular actress. She started writing music for artists at a young age and had a Sama-nominated song Free which she co-wrote with Thembi Seete for Lira and Denim.

“When I was younger, before there was female DJ popularity, I was in the music space.

“I was writing for artists to release certain music. We wrote music for different artists, we were in studio. The day before my final maths matric exam I was in studio with Thembi writing Free and I only got home at 6am to go to school at 8am to write my exam. We were putting in the time. There wasn't a platform to show the amount of work we put in at that time.”

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Mbali's passion for music and performance was evident from her early days in art school, where she studied piano, musical theatre and dance.

Prominent artists such as DJ Warras, Khuli Chana and DJ Zandi have given her a nod for the strides she's taken in the music scene. 

Even popular music group Black Motion, who she got to work with when releasing her first single Moto last November.

“That was unexpected. They [Black motion] hit me up. It was beautiful.”

She's prepared to thrive in the music industry as an Afrotech DJ performing around the world at festivals and clubs.

“When I went to DJ school I wanted to do hip-hop purley because hip-hop DJs have more technical skill than house DJs because they play more with loops and all. Once I understood what DJing is, that's when I made the decision to be an Afrotech DJ. I wanted to be respected by DJs.”