Ashley Raphala grew up in tembisa, on johannesburg's east rand, and started djing at fifteen after watching a local jock work a house party from across the road.

he built a name through sets on the youth station Y-FM and a run of local dj competition wins, then in 2013 signed to soulistic music, black coffee's johannesburg label, releasing his debut album Shimuzic in 2015.

since 2009 he has staged an annual event in tembisa called one man show, built around lineups of south african talent, the same title he used for his 2016 ep One Man Show.

in november 2020 he launched Kunye, a label and event series built to connect emerging south african producers with a global audience, growing out of lockdown livestream sessions into shows across south africa, kenya, france and the uk.

it's a platform for us to showcase and export the music to the world in its most authentic way, to own the narrative and not have our story be told by other people outside of us.

shimza to dj mag, 11 november 2025

his two records with Elderbrook, Places in 2024 on mine recordings and Falling in 2026 on helix records, sit alongside Fire Fire, made with kasango and AR/CO and released on helix records in 2025, the track that has carried his afro-tech sound to its widest audience.

he plays alongside Mahmut Orhan at chinois ibiza on 26 august 2026, and closes out amsterdam dance event at dgtl's shimza & co show on 24 october 2026, a bill that also carries AMÉMÉ.