Durban, eThekwini, the home and heart of gqom, has a new name for us to take note of: Kiing Bhutie. He began his production journey at 13 by making gqom beats by hand on classroom desks at school. Drawing inspiration from the sounds curated by gqom’s original tastemakers, Durban taxi drivers, he made the transition from the analogue domain of classroom desk to its digital counterpart in FL Studio. This initial stretch of his production journey was a solo effort and it was only at 17 that he was assisted in learning how to DJ in order to perform his productions. "His progress has since been steady, sharing line-ups and a studio session with Que of Distruction Boyz, as well as having a track featured in a DJ Tira set earlier this year. He began releasing in 2018 and has since released all his music independently. Recent offerings include his feature on the Gqom Today compilation curated by contemporary rising gqom producer STATE OFFF, alongside regular collaborator Dj Emotic. It saw him exploring the crossroads between gqom and electro, inspired by the likes of David Guetta. His upcoming EP, Poison, marks a return to a gqom focus, paying homage to Durban with the hint in its tongue-in-cheek title. Just in time for summer, it’s the perfect dancefloor thunderstorm of haunting vocal chants, kick drums, bass and snares that gqom has come to epitomise.