# The 7 Best Gqom Tracks of All Time

Durban's answer to kwaito: a broken, off-grid drum pattern with no four-to-the-floor kick at all, built on cracked software and traded by WhatsApp. Raw, minor-key and physically overwhelming on a big system.

- **Origin:** Durban, South Africa, 2011
- **Tempo:** 120–130 BPM
- **Also known as:** gqom oh, durban sound, sgubhu
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/gqom/

## Curators on Gqom

- [The Waxonia Desk](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/): 6 picks. Six records tracing how a Durban sound left the city — the first one on national radio, the one that reached London before it was accepted at home, and the one that turned its rhythms into outright pop.

## The list

### 1. [DJ Lag](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-lag/) — [Ice Drop](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-lag--ice-drop/)

*2016 · Goon Club Allstars*

Written at seventeen and the first gqom track to get a video. Three elements, no resolution, and a low end that makes the case for the whole genre in ninety seconds.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Lag%20Ice%20Drop) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9ycr4BI8I94)

### 2. [Babes Wodumo featuring Mampintsha](https://waxonia.com/artist/babes-wodumo-featuring-mampintsha/) — [Wololo](https://waxonia.com/track/babes-wodumo-featuring-mampintsha--wololo/)

*2016*

Gqom's first mainstream hit and the moment Durban's underground reached national radio. The vocal is a taunt, and the beat refuses to help her out even once.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Out of Durban](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-gqom-out-of-durban/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Babes%20Wodumo%20featuring%20Mampintsha%20Wololo) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bu_hL0iBUmI)

### 3. [Rudeboyz featuring TD Snax](https://waxonia.com/artist/rudeboyz-featuring-td-snax/) — [Mercedes](https://waxonia.com/track/rudeboyz-featuring-td-snax--mercedes/)

*2015 · Goon Club Allstars*

The record that carried the sound to London. Sparse to the point of severity, and the first many people outside South Africa heard of any of this.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Out of Durban](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-gqom-out-of-durban/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Rudeboyz%20featuring%20TD%20Snax%20Mercedes) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CuCPNuBzWBI)

### 4. [Distruction Boyz featuring Benny Maverick and Dladla Mshunqisi](https://waxonia.com/artist/distruction-boyz-featuring-benny-maverick-and-dladla-mshunqisi/) — [Omunye](https://waxonia.com/track/distruction-boyz-featuring-benny-maverick-and-dladla-mshunqisi--omunye/)

*2017*

The genre's biggest commercial moment, and a credit dispute: DJ Lag pursued the case and won a songwriting credit. Both facts belong in the record's history.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Out of Durban](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-gqom-out-of-durban/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Distruction%20Boyz%20featuring%20Benny%20Maverick%20and%20Dladla%20Mshunqisi%20Omunye) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=26-dVJa5Ejc)

### 5. [DJ Lag](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-lag/) — [Trip to New York](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-lag--trip-to-new-york/)

*2017*

Released first over WhatsApp, which is how most gqom actually travels. The most exportable thing Durban made, and it never needed a label to prove it.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Lag%20Trip%20to%20New%20York) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RPvvJ-N9CGw)

### 6. [Griffit Vigo](https://waxonia.com/artist/griffit-vigo/) — [Come to Durban](https://waxonia.com/track/griffit-vigo--come-to-durban/)

*2016 · Gqom Oh!*

From the compilation that gave the sound a name abroad. Vigo is the producer's producer here — harder, stranger and less interested in a hook than anyone else on this list.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Out of Durban](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-gqom-out-of-durban/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Griffit%20Vigo%20Come%20to%20Durban) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=z-aonW6QHeI)

### 7. [Sho Madjozi](https://waxonia.com/artist/sho-madjozi/) — [John Cena](https://waxonia.com/track/sho-madjozi--john-cena/)

*2019*

Gqom's rhythmic ideas turned into outright pop, in Xitsonga, about a wrestler. Included because a genre that could not do this would have stayed in Durban.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Out of Durban](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-gqom-out-of-durban/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sho%20Madjozi%20John%20Cena) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=H9bGITkIHmM)

---

Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.