DJ and producer Kenny Nzama, known as DJ Kenzhero, is leading Jozi My Jozi’s Babize Bonke campaign to showcase Johannesburg's creative resurgence. The initiative invites visitors to explore the city's revival through its artists and musicians. Nzama highlights music's unifying power amid growing inner-city revitalization efforts.
Kenny Nzama, better known as DJ Kenzhero, is a pioneer of South Africa's hip-hop scene, blending soul, funk, and jazz to captivate audiences. As a champion of the Jozi My Jozi campaign's Babize Bonke initiative—meaning 'let them all come' in isiZulu—he promotes experiencing Johannesburg's creative revival. "Music is the great unifier, and my instrument is the turntable," Nzama says.
Nzama has performed alongside artists like Tumi & The Volume, Lebo Mashile, and Freshlyground at festivals including Oppikoppi, Rocking the Daisies, and Standard Bank Jazz, as well as clubs such as Bassline and Colour Bar. Beyond DJing, he produces music, books acts, and assembles bands as a creative entrepreneur. He co-founded Artivist in Braamfontein, a bistro and gallery in a former parking lot on Reserve Street, featuring a poster of jazz icon Hugh Masekela. Downstairs lies the Untitled Basement, a live music venue where African and Austrian jazz musicians rehearse. "This is our heartbeat," Nzama notes.
Famous for his late-1990s Rebirth of Cool mixes reimagining jazz and hip-hop, Nzama sees Johannesburg undergoing its own rebirth. The inner city's creative economy is expanding with studios, galleries, murals, and spaces like Victoria Yards and 44 Stanley. "What I love about Braam is that it’s pan-African. It’s so diverse," he says, comparing Jozi to São Paulo but emphasizing its uniqueness.
Revitalization includes cleaned bridges, a upcoming rooftop bar at Bannister Hotel overlooking the Mandela mural, and a new outdoor space at Joburg Theatre Complex called the Watershed, featuring a mosaic fountain. Born in Soweto in 1976, Nzama initially studied cost accounting at Wits Tech before pivoting to music, inspired by neighborhoods like Maboneng and Hillbrow.