On a chilly evening in Johannesburg, I connect with Nitefreak over Zoom. He’s mid-tour, prepping for another round of performances during Miami Music Week, energized, but still carrying that calm, composed spirit I’ve always known him for. Although he’s a central figure in the global Afro House scene, he remains deeply grounded and speaks with a calm, measured wisdom.
“I only celebrate my wins for 24 hours,” he tells me, smiling. “After that, it’s on to the next.”
That mindset explains a lot. We share more than a conversation. There’s the bond of being Zimbabwean, the pride of watching one of our own fly the flag high across the globe. The last time I saw him in person was in Harare, November last year. He was debuting Hinde, his event property, in the city for the first time. I watched as he curated an experience that charmed all the lucky attendees who were able to get their hands on a ticket. “I didn’t expect Hinde to be this big,” he admits. “It started because no one was booking Afro House acts. I just needed a space to play my sound, and now we’re doing Miami, Paris… it’s growing faster than I thought.” Over the years, he has quietly and consistently built a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting musical exports. Whether he’s lighting up stages in Lisbon, Dubai, Ibiza or Miami, his presence is felt. But beyond the accolades and air miles, what strikes you is his humility.
Real name Bhekinkosi Mabhena, Nitefreak’s journey began in Barbour Fields, Bulawayo, where music was part of everyday life. “My dad’s a music lecturer, so I was always surrounded by instruments, notes, and sound theory,” he says. That early exposure laid the foundation, but his sound came from fusing African percussion with the structure of EDM. “If you speed up most of my tracks to 130 BPM, it’s straight EDM,” he says. “But I slow it down, add Afro grooves, that’s where the magic is.”
This blend of global structure and local rhythm has brought him to stages across continents. He’s worked with Blond:ish, Francis Mercier, Magic System, and the Grammy-nominated Amadou & Mariam. His music has topped charts, featured on major Spotify and Apple playlists, and earned support from heavyweights like Diplo, Black Coffee, and Pete Tong.
Still, he shrugs off the limelight. “I don’t really think about it like that. I just want to make good music and help others do the same.”
Before the beats, there were boots. “I was in my high school soccer team, and after that, I had the chance to join the Highlanders Academy,” he says. “But I realized soccer was too demanding. Injuries, training, it was a lot. I wasn’t lazy, I just knew it wasn’t for me.”
Instead, he pivoted to mechanical engineering at Bulawayo Polytechnic while quietly honing his production skills. Playing on stages and mastering his signature production style his first big moment came in 2018, when Black Coffee played his track Ghost. “That’s when I knew I had something,” he says. “That moment changed everything.”
His first international gig in Kenya was the turning point. “I was going through it back then. Kenya gave me hope,” he says. “It made me believe there was more waiting for me if I kept going.” Nitefreak’s career took another leap after connecting with Francis Mercier from Deep Root Records. “We met online. He heard my track My Africa, and we started talking. We became friends before anything else,” he explains. That friendship turned into a management deal in 2020, and since then, it’s been a steady climb.
“I only celebrate my wins for 24 hours,” he tells me, smiling. “After that, it’s on to the next.”
Tracks like Premiere Gaou and Kamili introduced a wider audience to what fans now call the “Nitefreak synth, a hypnotic blend of melody and rhythm that’s unmistakably his. “People are already copying the sound,” he says, not with ego, but with the cool focus of someone already moving onto his next evolution.” He sees Afro House as a cultural phenomenon connecting audiences all over the globe. “There’s no VIP energy. We don’t want bottle service. It’s about dancing together. That’s why people feel so connected at the shows.”
While his international profile grows, Nitefreak hasn’t turned his back on home. “Apart from maybe two, I’ve helped push almost every major Afro House event in Zim,” he says. He’s quick to call for more original music. “Everyone wants to DJ, but few are producing their own tracks. That has to change if we want to grow the scene.”
With Hinde, he’s built a brand that travels, and lifts others along the way. “I’d love to take artists from back home with me to international Hinde events. But they need music. You can’t just play a mix and expect to tour.” And he’s not doing it alone. “Right now, I’m rooting for Samuel Cosmic,” he says. “He’s got the talent, the sound, he will be the next big thing out of Zimbabwe.”
Through his travels he has become an unofficial ambassador for Zimbabwean culture. I ask where visitors should go in Zimbabwe, his eyes light up. “Victoria Falls, Nyanga are special places,” he says. “We don’t always appreciate them because we grew up there. But when you take someone new, you see how magical they are.”
Frustrated by delays and rejection from traditional labels, Nightfreak launched Afroholic Records in 2025. “Some labels didn’t even want to sign Premiere Gaou,” he says. “So I thought, let me just do it myself.”
Afroholic Records made a powerful debut on March 21st with the release of its first track, Masterclass, a dynamic Afro House collaboration between Zimbabwe’s rising star Nitefreak and legendary house DJ and vocalist Roland Clark. Blending Nitefreak’s signature soulful rhythms with Clark’s unmistakable voice and deep house roots, the track delivers a rich, immersive sound that marks an exciting new chapter for the label.
“I’d love to take artists from back home with me to international Hinde events. But they need music. You can’t just play a mix and expect to tour.”
He then detailed his current strategy for Afroholic Records. “We’re not signing artists right now. We’re signing music. If someone’s got a good Afro House track and nowhere to release it, that’s what Afroholic is here for.”It also comes with a fashion arm. “The clothing brand came before the label,” he adds. “We’ve got merch online and partnered with Stars 29 in Zim to make local delivery easier.”
So what’s next? “More showcases, growing the label, and doing things on my own terms,” he says. “I want to move from being just an act on the line up to being a partner. Ownership is the goal now.”
But before he logs off, he drops one last gem.
“I don’t see myself as a superstar,” he says. “I’m just Mabhena from Barbour Fields. I still go to the shop in my Crocs to buy bread. Nothing’s changed.”
And yet everything has.
