Singer / Songwriter: Platoon 
Student Co-creator: Bridges For Music Academy
Xhosa | 21 | Cape Town
bookings: bongakwanamusic@gmail.com

Learning Disability Nurse. Radio Personality. Artist Manager & Events Promoter.

DJ, Artist, founder of Abantu, one half of The Ascension & NTS Resident, Charisse C draws her selections from her experience of existing between worlds. Rooted in her Zimbabwean and South African heritage, raised in the UK; her taste is curious, soulful and bass-heavy, with a playful and intentional demeanour. 

Spearheading South Africa's electronic soundscape, including, now global giants, Amapiano and Gqom; she describes herself as both a vessel and storyteller. Previously a Music Journalist, Charisse C's live performances and curated events are all part of an ever-evolving expression of chosen mediums.

Described by Mixmag as "building a bridge between continents" with her "spiritual storytelling and fluid amapiano sets," and coined the "authority on the genre" by Benji B. The multifaceted tastemaker has played a wide and eclectic span of shows internationally; most recently selling out her own night 'Abantu' at Village Underground. Charisse C’s mixes can be found on Boiler Room, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, BBC 1Xtra, NTS, Rinse FM and No Signal.

“South African’s club experiments have rightly been held up as some of the best things to have happened to our dance floors. As Abantu boss Charisse C showed us in her debut sessions for NTS, there’s plenty more to [South Africa’s] thriving and constantly-evolving club culture,” writes Trench Magazine. 

Known for the stellar curation of #AbantuNoSignal; a bi-weekly show dedicated to representing the vastness of Southern Africa, with a combined effort of music and storytelling. Starting with the two places she calls home; Zimbabwe and South Africa, the show has since branched out to reach Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and the like.

Abantu, which translates to “people” in several Nguni languages, is cultivating an international community whilst building an archival legacy. The show features interviews, guest-mixes and the #AbantuArtists segment, which spotlights artists across electronic, hip-hop and soul music. The show aims to be inclusive of all that Southern Africa has to offer; not limited to its commercial successes, bridging gaps between genres and cultures alike. 

The Abantu dance floor, curated by headlining DJ Charisse C, is a dance floor of freedom and discovery. Where you can experience Amapiano, and its adjacent genres, situated in the heart of electronic dance music in London and beyond.

An exploration of the intersections between the genres and cultures, that have shaped Charisse C into the eclectic tastemaker she is today. Where you can experience a sense of home, whilst being transported to places new and yet somehow familiar.

In the spring of 2021, Charisse C met collaborator Koek Sista; fresh from a stellar Boiler Room debut,  they launched 'The Ascension': an immersive live experiment that combines Charisse C’s bass-heavy selections and Koek Sista’s magnetic sound art, to turn every dance floor into a gravitational and unforgettable experience. 

With their debut EP just released, the pair sit at the vanguard of a new imagining of electronic music from the African continent; connecting their individual experiences of cultural hybrids to form a live, artistic expression that is both rooted and out of this world. AMAKA describes "the heart of The Ascension" as "a form of sonic care work where two Black women honour the sounds of their home and use music to uplift collective energy," in both Art and Club institutions alike.

The Real Rethabile is following