Major League DJz play Toronto's Queen Elizabeth Theatre on 30 October

South African duo Major League DJz play Toronto's Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Friday 30 October 2026. Twin brothers Bandile and Banele Mbere say their set will centre on Afro house and Afro tech. They spoke to BeatRoute writer Isi Ijewere in an interview published on 29 October.

The Mbere brothers have championed African dance music since 2009, playing to audiences in South Africa and internationally. BeatRoute directs readers to AdmitONE for tickets to the Toronto date.

How the music travels

Asked what has driven the international growth of Afro-electronic music, the duo argued that the music itself is not new; the change is in how people find it.

The music has always been there. What has changed is how easily people can discover it.

They described a set recorded in South Africa reaching a listener on the other side of the world, who can become a fan before the duo has played in that listener's city. They credited Untitled Audio and Balcony Mix with helping people experience the music alongside the setting, the people and the culture. They also pointed to artists taking these sounds into different clubs and festivals.

Toronto and the set

The pair said they have been coming to Toronto for a few years and have built a community there. In their experience, they said, Toronto audiences know their music and are open to different sounds. Their approach to a new room is to use a familiar vocal or melody to draw people in, then move to something deeper.

On the sound itself, they said they are rooted in Afro house and Afro tech, while appreciating the wider range of rhythms from South Africa, including 3-step and gqom. When building a set, they listen for connections between records, the mood and the bassline, and use those to shift the room between levels of energy. They describe dance music as a family of sister and cousin genres.

For Friday, they promised new music, exclusives and a curated lineup. They named their own track "Slips Away" as the record they would reach for to revive a flat party, saying the response to it had been strong all summer.

Credit and opportunity

The duo also addressed how the genre's history is acknowledged as its audience grows. They said that means continuing to name the producers and places behind the music, crediting the artists who influenced them and making room for those artists on platforms and lineups. They added that international touring, collaborations and label opportunities now let artists build careers while working from home, and said they want to use their platforms to introduce younger producers.