Who is Charl Chaka:

With music in his blood and funk in his soul, Charl’s raw energy & talent has taken him from top London clubs to festivals in Cape Town, DJ residencies in Dubai to guest slots in Bahrain and back……
Charl has soared effortlessly into the international dance music scene, having shared the spotlight with legendary heavyweights such as Armand van Helden, Fatboy Slim, Derrick Carter, Kenny Dope, Todd Terry, Jay J, Marshall Jefferson, Inland Knights, Terry Francis, Mark Farina, DJ Heather, DJ Sneak & Dennis Ferrer to name but a few.

Not one to be pigeonholed however, Charl has been trusted with the duty of opening for Jamiroquai, ?uestluv, Sunshine Band and proving his versatility and capability has even seen him play some energetic Drum and Bass, warming up for the likes of DJ Hype & Roni Size.

Although Charl has been DJing since the age of 18, his real recognition came back in 1999 when he won a DJ competition at London club Heaven. He was immediately offered a residency, playing alongside Jason Moore (The End/JDJ) and Nicky Holloway on a weekly basis. (www.heaven-london.com)

Gaining the ultimate DJ recognition, Charl entered and came runner-up in the iDJ magazine DJ competition of June 2001. “This is so darned funky, so well thought out and such an understated mix that we just had to give him the props he’s due” (iDJ Magazine 2001)

Charl worked closely with mentor Jason Moore at Heaven and gained invaluable experience. He went on to run a promote large scale events & productions, play live to more than 10,000 people and was a permanent fixture at every house club and major event in South Africa, so it was no surprise when his Cape Town residency at Deluxe was voted South Africa’s number 1 nightclub in 2003 in GQ magazine!

It was in 2004 that Charl’s ambition and eagerness for a challenge found him landing in Dubai, where he currently still resides and reigns supreme. With the promise of a DJ residency at Dubai’s trendiest new bar Lotus One, Charl could exhibit his full deck ability to the ever-growing Dubai crowd. It was here that Charl championed a distinct deep, funky jackin' chicago house sound and to this day is credited as being the 1st DJ to introduce this sound to Dubai. In 2006 he won the Technics International DJ Challenge and had some raving sets at the Heineken Thirst competition 3 years in a row.

Currently head honcho of Infusion Magazine (Dubai’s leading Music & Entertainment magazine), one of the partners behind the Nasimi Full Moon concept, to rocking his trademark sound alongside partner in crime Smokingroove on his weekly Friday night radio show ‘Rhythm Factory’ on Radio 1, CC is truly one of the original pioneers of the Dubai music industry.

These days you can catch him spinning at a multitude of gigs across the UAE, Charl is now a household name and one of Dubai’s best loved resident DJ’s.

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OM: DUBAI
Perhaps the defining moment and pinnacle of Charl’s career (so far!) came in 2007, when he mixed a compilation CD for San Francisco based house heavyweights OM Records, following in the footsteps of his mentors and legends such as Mark Farina and DJ Sneak.

OM:Dubai features 2 CD’s with world renowned DJ Andy Caldwell heading up CD 1 and our man from Dubai hosting CD 2. OM:Dubai is still a worldwide success selling over 8,000 copies worldwide and reached #6 on the iTunes most downloadable dance album charts! Charl’s interpretation of the Om sound in Dubai won him a wealth of critical acclaims

IDJ Wrote:
“Its Charl’s mix, however, that wins top prize. Jacked to the max, this carries enough boompty-boomp to make Derrick Carter blush. It serves as a reminder that not all house has to be electronic or techno flavoured and that sometimes all you need is a classic walking bassline and a heavy kickdrum to get your groove on. Worth checking. By Dave Jenkins. 3 out of 5

DJForums.com wrote:
According to Om, Chaka is THE man of San Francisco house in Dubai: “…Charl Chaka wears the proverbial crown in Dubai…” (cited from the press release). I regard all such praise very skeptically, but in this case I really cannot think of a more appropriate description. This mix, at 16 tracks in length, contains the strongest selection of jazzy, soulful house that I’ve ever heard, most of which contain acoustriments (read: I can’t tell if the instrumentation is real or synthesized, but it sounds like full brass band is playing the whole time so I like it). The previous title holder, The Groove Junkies (also on Om), really cannot compare to this guy. In fact, the mix was so good, that the Los Angeles traffic cleared up as soon as I started playing it (!!; your results may vary). 5/5 stars