Church choir was her second home from when she was young as her grandfather. As she grew older, she moved on to school choir, the Sunday school choir and eventually a youth choir conductor.
She was in love with music and although she also had fallen in love with cooking, Koketso Mathabathe, affectionately known as KMat, was too drawn to music to let go.
She knew straight after high school that a career in music was definitely her calling.
However, life dealt its own cards.
“I became a waitress, and then at work, they would have DJs come through and play on Saturdays, and I would normally ask them to teach me how to DJ, or can I be a DJ with you one day.”
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Even at the face of rejection though, she didn’t give up.
When she asked her friend who was a soulful DJ to teach her a thing or two about the ones and twos, he was up for the challenge.
“He taught me on the spot, but he taught me with deep house, and then after a while of practicing at home, I went to Boston City College, and that's where I did the DJ 101 course. I learned how to use equipment, understand music, understand timing, and everything,” says the Soshanguve-born DJ and producer.
Starting out as female deep house DJ in 2021, not much was feeding into her growth. Now three years later, she’s found her feet and has a viral song titled Val’umkhukhu. The song has been making rounds at social gatherings and TikTok where people hopping onto its dance challenge.
“That's my first baby. When we were doing it, we knew that we needed a TikTok song, a song that's gonna captivate a whole lot of people, a song that people could remember my name by, a song that people can catch onto very fast,” she says about her first single.
Many got to know KMat last year when she played a set at Boiler Room where she dropped one of the hottest songs there was and got people deeming her a force to be reckoned with behind the decks. The song was Bhebha and at the time, it was exclusive.
“My set from last year, to be quite honest, I even got the times wrong. When I started that set, I had no idea on how to play because I actually prepared it the day before. So, when I got there, it was just a whole different mood and I think that's what happens to me most of the time.”
“Usually when we have international gigs, I would plan a set and be like, this is what I'm going to play. But as soon as I get there and I feel the energy, I play something else. I'm going to play a different set, which is what happened at Boiler Room. I literally just follow my heart and play it,” the 25-year-old adds.
The crowd went crazy when she transitioned from Tobetsa to Bhebha, she remembers vividly.
“I didn't expect that moment. The whole thing, the energy was amazing. People were just loving me and receiving me just the way I was. It was so warm, so beautiful, actually.”
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KMat returns to the Boiler Room x Ballantine's stage, this time, for the ten years’ celebration of True Music.
“This year, KMat knows who she is. I understand my brand, I understand my sound and my craft. So, we know how we're gonna make it go crazy, it’s something that’s going to make the event a beautiful experience.”
Recently, KMat was also revealed as Spotify’s amapiano rising star cover. According to her, the recognition has been a long time coming.
“I think the world has been waiting for me to do something because the whole of last year I was making other people's songs and made people dance to them and enjoy them. So, I think everyone has been waiting for that moment.”
