WeeklySA_AdminWAX: He’s already bringing the house down with deft multi-genre mixes…
By Priscilla Malinga
Music – the universal language – has been known to bring together people from all parts of the world, as has dance.
These sentiments were shared by DJ Icon, also known as “Themba”, meaning ‘Hope’ as given to him by his South African friends. This is a tradition typical of South Africans to christen someone with a name when they have truly become one of their own. Born as James Bennet and hailing from Mississippi in the United State, DJ Icon has created a brand new life in South Africa, as he works to push ahead and pursue his love and passion for music by creating mixes of different genres to entertain crowds at any events.
Whether it is soul music and RNB, dance or Amapiano, House or Afro Soul or Jazz, DJ Icon has mastered the art of combining different genres or simply focusing on one or two genres to give the audience the kind of vibe they desire.
DJ Icon moved to South Africa in November 2023 when he decided he wanted a change and a better life for himself. He saw how South Africans embrace the different genres of music and fell in love with the people and arts and culture the country brings and decided to move there to pursue his passion after visiting the country five times.
Born in Gullport, Mississippi, DJ Icon married his sweetheart Patrise 34 years ago and together were blessed with 3 children – two girls and a boy, with whom he moved to South Africa as he is still young. He is the first child in his family and has two younger siblings.
Icon finished school and went to the DMD Military in the United States in 1986 until 1992 and got an honourable medical discharge when he had a knee injury at Fort Riley. After this, he then decided to go study dentistry and earned a Doctorate in Dentistry. He worked for 27 years as a Cosmetic Dentist and retired last year in November 2023.
DJ Icon loved music from the tender age of 7, listening to his dad’s jazz, funk, and soul records. He was there when hip hop became popular, and loved it so much that he fell in love with being a DJ. He got introduced to house music while serving in the military and college. His music taste expanded throughout his 20’s and 40’s. He loves house music, sports, golf and basketball.
“Music played a big role in my life,” he said. “Even when I practised dentistry I always had music playing in the background,” He adds.
He became a DJ more than 10 years ago when he bought his first controller as a hobby for the past nine and a half years, and taught himself to mix. He has a mix cloud account with over 150 tracks, ranging from house to Amapiano hip hop, Rnb, Jazz, Soul etc. Today he has fans all over the world. He challenged himself to learn how to mix different genres and got very good very quickly at it.
He plays pretty much any genre and can move from one genre to the other seamlessly. He is an expert when it comes to mixing and blending.
“I can mix and move from genre to genre and that is why I consider myself a multi-genre deejay,” says Icon. He recently became Just Badela Lifestyle Restaurant’s resident DJ in Midrand. He plans to perform there 5 days a week from Thursday to Monday until he can land another opportunity elsewhere. He believes that it is never too late to chase your dreams and that being unique is the most satisfying thing anyone can ever do.
Just Badela was conceived in June 2012 by Mr Dumile Badela through the establishment of a boutique butchery in Emdeni, Soweto. However due to demand throughout the years, it evolved into a recognisable and iconic brand in Soweto, attracting a clientele from surrounding areas as well as being a popular Gauteng tourist destination. With a brand extension from Orlando West to Midrand, Just Badela Lifestyle offers tasty African Cuisines and a line-up of entertainment from DJ Icon’s mixes of different genres on different days, poetry nights, comedy nights and live music entertainment. It has become one of the best places to chill and have scrumptious meals while enjoying the sounds of DJ ICON and other entertainment offerings.
“At Just Badela Restaurant we are serious, not only about food and beverages, but also about enjoyment of our patrons when visiting our restaurant,” says Dumile Badela, founder and director of Just Badela Restaurants.
As for Dj Icon, he says he enjoys the spirit of Ubuntu, something he has come to learn and experience. “Every day I am surprised by the love and the spirit of togetherness with South Africans. That is why South Africa is such a beautiful place to pursue his love for music”.
