Bandile and Banele Mbere are identical twin brothers born in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States but were eventually brought back to their motherland, South Africa, to be raised according to their culture.
The twins grew up with their parents and two older brothers in Johannesburg. Having been influenced by music from when they were very young, Banele and Bandile grew up listening to many RnB, Jazz, Soul, HipHop, and Gospel music courtesy of their father and older brother. In addition to their uncanny love for music, the twins began playing the piano, even when they were still in Primary school.
They pursued a degree in Mass Communications before dropping out of university to focus permanently on music. The 31-year-olds had always been irrevocably drawn to music after all, and have severally admitted (with a tinge of pride) that “music is what we live for.”
One thing Major League DJz would tell you is that nobody else had the single significant impact on their musical career that their father had. A former South African ambassador to Rwanda, Mr. Mbere singularly influenced his sons’ love for different types and genres of music, the impact of which can be heard and felt in their work these days. He was a professional pianist, and he was the one who taught his sons to read and write music and play the piano.
The upbringing given to Banele and Bandile could be defined as a proper American-style upbringing that was common for kids of rich folks who were born in the eighties and nineties, especially after the end of South Africa’s apartheid rule. Quite sadly, Mr. Mbere passed away after a sudden heart attack while he was away on a foreign business trip. His loss was a big blow to their erstwhile stable home, and the financial quality of their lives nosedived.
However, their mother, who was a director at the South African Department of Social Development, had to step in to take care of her children. The famous twins have spoken of how she tried to encourage them to pursue different career paths, as she was well aware of the slippery slope that fame presented. Regardless of her motherly concern, Banele and Bandile went on to beat the odds and have emerged very successfully indeed.
Having been exposed to different sounds and genres of music from a very young age, Major League DJz had quite an easy slide into the entertainment world. With the clear vision to unite African youths through their music, these two determined young men began to tweak well-known sounds into something different. They transformed South Africa hip-hop as we used to know it by fusing elements of house, EDM, and Jazz.
Their rise to national and international fame can be traced back to 2006 when they decided to venture into music on a full-time, professional basis. They began hosting weekly ‘Urban Breeze’ events in the township of Alexandra, successfully integrating hip-hop into an area known for its preference of House music.
In 2008, the group name, Major League DJz, was born. The name is an ode to the fact that they were the first Blacks to play major league basketball during their brief stay in college. The Major League DJz began hosting parties for widely known musical acts, including Fat Joe, 50 Cent, and Akon. Soon, they became the default guys to hire for any deejaying job, like evening events and after-parties.
Other musical acts they have performed alongside include local and international names such as Kid Cudi, Kanye West, DJ Trauma, Euphonik, DJ Woo Kid, Roger Goode, DJ Fresh, and many others. The twins have become so big that they are now regular fixtures at all the country’s huge and reputable clubs and parties.
They are now official DJs for all Khuli Chana and Soul Candi events, putting them at the forefront of the music market. These days the enigmatic duo provides weekly music mixes for radio stations, uKhozi and Mafikeng FM, and also double as brand influencers for the McDonald’s Street Rhythm campaign. They are rightfully seen as pioneers of the now popular Kwaito music, and they run a music show called Major League Gardens, which is now the rave of the moment.
In 2016, not long after they came into the scene, the twin brothers bagged a record deal with Mabala Noise record label. They were put on board by their friend The Late Riky Rick, who was also a star in his own right. This music collaboration proved to be one of the most profitable deals for the record label that year. In the months that followed, Major League DJz partnered with two of the country’s biggest acts: Cassper Nyovest and Anatii.
These collaborations turned out to be massively successful, and so these talented twin brothers became instantly more marketable. Unfortunately, the music terrain is full of rough patches which take you up or down as the tide determines. In Major League DJz’s case, it was down as they ended their record deal with Mabala Noise records, citing numerous breaches of contract on the part of the record company.