It’s not often that an art story starts at a KFC. But I was on a quest to find the “Uncle Waffles Burger” from the fast-food chain.
It started with my arts editor asking whether I have tasted these famous — or, if you can believe social media, loudest and unforgiving voices — infamous burgers named in honour of the popular amapiano star.
I had heard and grooved to her dancefloor music, but no, not tasted the burger.
With the bad press in mind, I insisted that the aforementioned editor came along to see and taste the result of this unusual collaboration between Uncle Waffles and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It’s 9am on a Wednesday with a looming arts pages deadline and we’re off for a burger breakfast. First stop is the KFC at Campus Square in Auckland Park, which is close to the Mail & Guardian’s office in Joburg.
On the way I try to educate/convince/enthuse the editor about the joys of amapiano. No, when people say it’s “jazzy” don’t expect any John Coltrane in it, I explain to him, but he does not seem convinced that he will like it.
He is interested in how Uncle Waffles has managed to conquer the world’s dancefloors. For example, she has her first headline gig on 22 September at the Great Hall in Brooklyn, New York. No small feat for the eSwatini-born Lungelihle Zwane, as she is known on her passport.
The 23-year-old DJ and producer has, in just three years, created a career that most spend many years trying to build. Uncle Waffles has since bagged a North American and European tour, performed at Coachella and has been nominated for a BET award.
She is on a world tour, having done 100 or shows so far this year. She released her third album, An Asylum of Solace, on 11 August.
“The project was meant to represent peace and tranquillity, the happiness that had graced my life because of the blessings I received. It is a representation of light,” she tells the M&G.
The album is laced with “private school amapiano” — I love how there are various sub-genres — which is more soulful and heavily vocalised.
The album features songs such as Peacock Revisit that has vocals from the 1986 bubblegum group Splash. The song has since gone viral on TikTok, in true Uncle Waffles fashion.
Everything she does is intentional; she understands the business of the artist, the project and social media and how it, if tended to correctly, can produce positive results.
Uncle Waffles told Complex, a UK-based music site that called her the “princess of amapiano”, that “I’ve learnt to trust myself and the hard work I put in, and remember that I’m not where I am by mistake”.
When the M&G asked Uncle Waffles how she would like to be remembered, she said: “As the one who did it. Who really did the full thing.”
The commercial collaboration between Uncle Waffles and KFC is called Hack the Streets. This collaboration is a “celebration of the places and spaces that have shaped her as an artist and an African”.
“I think it’s a beautiful way to collaborate, to tell my story, and still give my fans the KFC experience,” she says.
Hloni Mohope, KFC’s marketing director, says: “Bringing together KFC and Uncle Waffles in this one-of-a-kind collaboration has not only been exciting but inspirational. It enables us to tell the story of the global success of Uncle Waffles, to spread the beauty of amapiano, and celebrate it with an exclusive burger that will only be available for a limited time.”
So fans will have to find — as the marketing-speak is telling us — cultural landmarks that are significant in Uncle Waffles’ journey that will be shared by KFC or her on social media. Once it’s found, they will scan the landmark and shop the KFC Uncle Waffles burger. And share it.
Our journey to find an Uncle Waffles burger in stock was a bit of a challenge, never mind finding a “cultural landmark”.
We went to the closest KFC because we were on deadline. They did not have waffles — the Uncle’s or otherwise.
The next stop was in Braamfontein and the KFC there was being load-shedded, the doors were closed and the staff members were gathered inside in the dark. One of the workers told us that they had no idea when they would open.
Now the drive was no longer not fun because I was stressing about my deadline, so we decide to head to the KFC at Hill on Empire near Hillbrow. Three Tsonga-speaking women walked in as we were waiting for our order.
I dusted off on my Tsonga and I think I did a fair job of finding out whether they’re keen on the waffles burger. They said no emphatically and their main reasons were that they saw what other people were saying on social media.
“It’s either you have a burger with buns or waffles with ice-cream, not the two together,” said Thandeka Baloyi, who is from Malamulele in Limpopo. She said she was put off by the thought of sweet and savoury food in the same meal.
Our order came, we sat outside the KFC and then it was the moment of truth.
The waffles, playing the bun’s role, are not crazy sweet. The burger is cooked well, soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside, the sauces were alright. It was quite a decent burger, I have to say.
I would probably have it every once in a couple of months, but not every time I want a burger.