About the Kid

Kid Fonque has always kept up with the underground, playing a variety of styles since his residency at 206 back in the good old days.

His career has been going since the late 90’s and he has played many a set covering the best in beat culture music. From his early beginnings he has covered Downbeat, Latin, Nu-Jazz, Drum & Bass, House, Hip Hop, Soul, and currently Dub Step but all with a soulful twist and fresh vibe.

It’s always exciting with Kid because it’s all one sound at the end of the day.

In January 2004 the Kid released his first mix CD called ‘Saladomundo’ on USM that has been critically acclaimed by the press (press quotes are on next page) and sold over a 1000 copies.

His follow up  ‘Saladomundo vol.2’ was released in March 2005 with more great response and some solid media reviews.

Craig Massiv and the Kid where sourced to compile and mix a compilation for Jazzanova’s Berlin record label ‘Sonar Kollektiv.  The mission behind the compilation was to expose the label on our sunny shores.

Massiv and Kid where also asked to remix one of Sonar Kollektiv’s artists Deyampert, which was added to the compilation and also made it as the first local release or remix covering the broken beat/nujazz genre.

‘Kollektiv Worx’ mixed by Craig massiv and compiled by Kid Fonque was released in October 2005 on Ready Rolled records.

To add to the Kid’s CD releases he has released ‘The Candi Lounge’ for Soul Candi Records South Africa in Aug 2008.

Other venues and parties started hearing the sounds, securing gigs at Reality, Lighhouse, Kitchners Carvery, Fiction (Cape Town), Sublime, Barcode, Carfax, 88 Norwood, Rustlers, Oppi Koppi, Monsoon, All good,  @115, Al dente (Ferrari showroom), Canteloop Alley, 96, Natural Groove, Ku-Da-Ta, Marvel (Cape Town), Next Movement, Songwriters club, Mo’s, Waiting Room (Cape Town), Thesis (Soweto), House 22 (PTA) House on Fire (Swaziland), Caprice (Cape Town), Kungfusion, 206, Sudada, and plenty in-between.  Giving his sound (what he likes to call freestyle) exposure.

Kid Fonque has opened and played after internationals such as Jazzanova (Sonar Kollektiv records Berlin), Dj Krush (Japan), Charles Webster, Fink (Ninja Tune),  Luke Solomon (Classic records), Mr Scruff (Ninja Tune), Rainer Truby (Compost records),  Gilles Peterson (Radio 1 UK), Darjan (Metro Area),  Dj Craze (World DMC Champ 3 years in a row), Dj Naughty (Deejay Gigolos Germany), Ame (Sonar Kollektiv Berlin), Aaron Jerome (If music London), Nick Matthews (best kept secret), Basement jaxx and there’s more to come…

To sum the Kid up – soulful, jazzy, freestyle, fresh, and always unpredictable…

2 Sides of the Beat

This is Kid Fonque’s fifth mix-CD – his third for the groundbreaking Soul Candi label, for which he daylights as Label Manager – and it follows releases that tended to showcase the slow, easy and soulful side of his multi-faceted DJ persona. This one though is far more representative of the diversity he’s renowned for.

In order to facilitate a fuller picture of Kid Fonque, ‘Two Sides To The Beat’ has been stretched out across two CDs – after all, anyone who’s seen the Kid drop a marathon four-hour set at festivals like Oppikoppi or Rustler’s will know that tempos range from deliberate 90BPM hip-hop and nu jazz to 120-130BPM deep house and deadly breaks, all the way through to 170BPM drum ‘n’ bass. Seamlessly.

This free-flowing funk ethic is highly evident in this two hour-plus set. Its second disc is dripping with the charmingly chilled vibes that characterized his ‘Saladomundo’ CDs (and sets alongside the likes of Gilles Peterson and DJ Cam), and it features the sweet shuffle of acts like DJ Day, J Boogie, Alice Russell and Miguel Migs featuring Me’Shell Ngedocello. All massaged into a reflective and meditative listen.

Disc 1 highlights a more floor-friendly Fonque: the kind of deep dance fare he’s exhibited whilst playing alongside Metro Area, Ame, Mr. Scruff, Simbad, or at underground havens like 115. But it separates itself from efforts from almost all of his contemporaries by adding bits of broken beat and doses of dubstep to a superb selection of house cuts.

So the likes of Mosca and Maddslinky rub shoulders with AtJazz and Crazy P (remixing Mujava’s massive “Township Funk”) in a typically unpredictable but wholly coherent body-jacking jam. This danceflooor adventure also contains tunes that have been Kid Fonque staples as he’s built his solidly diverse career, such as Isolee’s “Beau Mot Plage” (Freeform 5 Remix), DJ Gregory’s “Elle” and Jazztronik’s “Samurai”.

Guaranteed not to resemble any of the countless mix-CDs issued in 2011 (or any other year), this compelling eclectic selection that cements Kid Fonque’s reputation for diverse and dynamic DJ trickery.

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