KNOCKOUT with DJ LAG (South Africa) FREAK DE L'AFRIQUE and UNBORN SOUNDS (South Korea)

Date: Friday, July 17, 2026 at 23:00:00

Venue: Maaya Berlin, Berlin

Experience the raw intensity of Gqom at Maaya Berlin. Durban pioneer DJ Lag headlines an international showcase alongside Berlin's Freak de l’Afrique and Seoul’s Unborn Sounds. Expect heavy bass, fractured rhythms, and minimalist intensity from the forefront of the global underground.

A NIGHT DEDICATED TO GQOM KNOCKOUT is a new Berlin-based event series dedicated to Gqom, the raw, hypnotic sound that emerged from Durban’s townships in the early 2010s. Built on heavy bass, fractured rhythms, and minimalist intensity, Gqom reshaped the global dance landscape with its dark energy and percussive power. It’s music that moves both body and spirit stripped-down, unrelenting, and deeply physical. For this edition of KNOCKOUT, Maaya welcomes South African pioneer DJ Lag, alongside the collectives Freak de l’Afrique (Berlin, Germany) and Unborn Sounds (Seoul, South Korea), for a night dedicated to deep frequencies, heavy bass and cutting-edge club sounds at the forefront of the global underground. DJ Lag (born Lwazi Asanda Gwala) is a pioneering South African DJ and producer credited with globalizing gqom, a dark, percussive electronic sub-genre hailing from Durban. Known as the "Gqom King", he reached global audiences by collaborating with superstar Beyoncé on "My Power" and releasing acclaimed projects like his album Meeting With The King. Unborn Sounds is a Seoul-based event platform and music collective curating forward-thinking electronic and hiphop-based lineups. From club music to trap, bass, breakbeat and techno, Unborn Sounds blends underground sound with fashion, design, and subculture to reshape Seoul’s club scene on its own terms. Freak de l’Afrique is a Berlin-based collective showcasing Africa's modern club sounds in Germany and beyond.

Organizer: Maaya Berlin

Genres: HIPHOP, TECHNO, HOUSE, AMAPIANO, TECH_HOUSE, AFRO_HOUSE, TRAP