Liquid Deep Never Wanted To Be Pop Stars. South Africa Had Other Plans.
Liquid Deep became one of the defining sounds of South African house music during a period when the genre still felt deeply physical. Before TikTok trends, before Spotify playlists dictated global taste, songs spread through clubs, car speakers, pirated CDs, DJs, and communities that passed music from person to person.
That older ecosystem sits at the centre of the duo’s conversation with Randall Abrahams on Both Sides.
The discussion is not framed as a nostalgia exercise. Instead, it becomes a meditation on what music used to mean, how artists carried culture before the algorithm era, and why certain songs survive long after trends disappear.
Liquid Deep explains that the duo’s formation was built less around strategy and more around curiosity. One member already possessed deep knowledge of house music labels, producers, and subgenres. The other wanted to understand the culture from the inside. That exchange became the foundation for a sound that blended deep house, soul, R&B influence, and melodic songwriting in a way that eventually reached far beyond underground dance floors.
Ironically, one of the duo’s biggest breakthroughs nearly never happened.
Fairy Tale, now considered one of the most recognisable songs associated with Liquid Deep, was initially dismissed by the duo as being too melodic and too accessible for their identity as deep house DJs. The group resisted playing it in sets because it felt too close to mainstream radio music. Their team insisted otherwise.
The audience eventually proved the team right.
The episode also captures an important generational shift in how music circulates. Randall Abrahams reflects on the era when songs physically travelled between people rather than being pushed through social platforms. A single track could move from one burned CD to another until eventually reaching radio stations and compilers. The process was slower, messier, and arguably more human.
That tension between authenticity and visibility runs throughout the conversation.
Liquid Deep openly discusses the emotional impact of sudden success, explaining how the duo eventually felt overexposed and creatively drained. Stepping away from public visibility became less about disappearing and more about protecting clarity and reconnecting with the reasons the music existed in the first place.
What makes the conversation resonate beyond music fans is the broader question sitting underneath it: what happens when art stops belonging to the artist?
The duo argues that once a song enters the world, listeners decide its meaning. A dance track becomes someone’s breakup anthem. A house record becomes nostalgia for home. A melody becomes attached to memory, grief, healing, or survival.
That is ultimately what gives the episode emotional weight.
This is not simply a retrospective about South African house music. It is a conversation about legacy, identity, emotional memory, and how certain sounds quietly become part of the national fabric.
Catch up on all Both Sides episodes here: https://www.enca.com/both-sides-podcast