By Lindsey Kin

He explains, the name Giggs Superstar was collaborated: “When they use to have discos and I used to gig a lot, one of my friends began to call me Giggs. To follow this up, the name ’Superstar’ I got at Soul Candi. One of the security guys used to call me Superstar as a joke because I used to travel a lot, the name then rubbed off onto my friends … And then we linked the two to become Giggs Superstar.”

Growing up, Giggs said that he always wanted to be a doctor, but that did not happen. Having opened for international DJ and artist, Gregor Salto & Chappel, on their South African tour; producing two platinum-selling compilations and two solo albums; and most recently, his SAMA nomination in the Best Urban Dance Album category for Deep House Chronicles 4: Sounds of a Superstar, one would expect an artist of this calibre to be hot-headed, pompous and arrogant – as most of the DJs I have met in my journalistic career are – but Giggs is none of that. Rather, he is a gentleman who is humble with a sense of humour. “I don’t take the whole celebrity idea to my head, as I always think there might be somebody who does not know who I am.” Respect, not ‘hating’ and being humble, Giggs believes are the three things that have made him what he is today, and are qualities that he will always have - and this will not change. “If I wanted to change I could have done so a long time ago. I treat myself as a normal human being; the important thing is to not be big headed as when you do, that is where the problem starts.” Giggs has become acquainted with the fact that there will always be those ‘bad influencers’ in the entertainment industry; however, “as an artist, at the end of the day it’s all about respecting yourself and what it is that you want, and this in turn will influence what you do or don’t do”.

On his SAMA nomination, an ecstatic Giggs said: “Receiving this nomination is huge and brings with it a lot of respect to what I do. Being recognised in the same category as house legends, Kent, Liquid Deep, Tumelo and Zakes Bantwini, is an honour. The nomination was truly a blessing and one that I did not expect. My boss, Harael Salkow from Soul Candi, was also very excited for me and told me that this is what he had been waiting for.” Giggs laughed whilst remembering how they used to fight with his late “brother, cousin, father figure”, label manager and mentor, Brett Jackson about doing a local production – “Brett was not keen, he was scared of what may happen to my brand if the material was not good enough”. The journey was not an easy one for Giggs: “There were nights where I would wake up thinking that maybe Brett was right; however, I took a risk with my brand.” Giggs recalled the day he had to submit his mix to Jackson who ultimately loved it, dancing to the record as soon as he heard it. “Deep House Chronicles 4 holds a lot of memories for me, and the night I found out about the nomination, I was in tears, but at the same time very excited … it was awesome that the entire Soul Candi group supported me.”

But, music is not the only love in the ‘Superstar’s’ life. “I am into fashion,” commented Giggs. Last year, the artist was appointed as on of the South African brand ambassadors for international clothing brand, Adidas. Following this appointment, Giggs’ son, Taylor, was appointed as the first baby in South Africa to be an Adidas brand ambassador. “Look out for my boy!” commented a proud Giggs, adding that the sponsorship has brought a lot of joy and excitement to his life and is something that he is grateful for. Keeping in line with his love and interest to make a name in the fashion industry, Giggs is currently working on his GSS clothing range. “I want to bring out good material … I don’t want to have those typical t-shirts that people end up sleeping in; it must be top quality and be treated how consumers treat their other big branded items of clothing …”

Having already achieved so much in his career, I was curious to find out what will be next on the agenda for this South African jet-setter. “I want to be involved with a lot of things, however I don’t want to ‘break news’ until I find out what will work best in the long run … I can’t be a DJ forever,” he laughed adding, “You cannot be a DJ when you are very old.” Giggs revealed his team is currently busy with some of the remixes from Deep House Chronicles 4, together with other projects in the pipeline that he promises to keep our Media Update team posted with.

And on the topic of more baby ambassadors on the way? Giggs laughs, “No … I am paying attention to my son right now.”