Uncle Waffles has fully grown into her “Princess of Amapiano” tag, and 2026 is shaping up like the year she doubles down on that global takeover, with festival announcements and brand campaigns already rolling in for the year ahead. The Eswatini‑born DJ and producer, now 25, is coming off a nonstop run of international dates and high‑profile bookings that have firmly cemented her as one of Amapiano’s most visible stars. Afro Nation has confirmed her return to the Piano People stage for their 2026 Portugal edition, where she’s billed alongside heavyweights like Burna Boy—a clear sign of how central she’s become to the live Amapiano experience.
Beyond festivals, she’s stepping deeper into the electronic and alt‑club world by joining Kaytranada as the official guest on his 2026 UK and European arena tour, a move that will put her in front of thousands of new fans across the continent. It’s a smart alignment: his left‑field house and hip‑hop blends meet her high‑energy Amapiano sets in a way that nudges her beyond “TikTok‑viral DJ” status into full‑blown global dance act territory. At the same time, playlists and mixes built around her catalog—cuts like “Tanzania,” “HELIOS,” “Yahyuppiyah,” “ZENZELE” and “Ama2k”—keep her sound circulating heavily with piano lovers worldwide, as captured in updated Amapiano‑focused playlists like this one on Spotify. You can check out one such 2026 Uncle Waffles‑centric playlist here.
@uncle.waffles Finna get crunk, eyebrows on fleek
♬ original sound - Uncle Waffles
Brand‑wise, she’s now an Adidas South Africa “Original Icon,” fronting campaigns that lean into her club‑kid styling, choreography and overall superstar aura. A 2025 profile notes she had already crossed 6.2 million followers across platforms, with appearances at Coachella and Cannes underscoring how far she’s taken the sound outside Southern Africa’s borders. That visibility loops straight back into Amapiano, with organizers and platforms routinely positioning her as a face of the genre whenever they need to introduce the movement to new audiences.
On the music side, Waffles has been pacing herself rather than rushing into an album. After EPs like “SOLACE,” which The Native highlighted for stretching Amapiano into more soulful, jazz‑tinted territory, she told Essence in 2025 that she was still not ready for a debut album and was instead focused on another EP. She described albums as “so impactful” and admitted the prospect still scares her, promising that when she finally does drop one it has to be “amazing”—ideally stacked with big‑name collaborations, including her dream link‑up with Beyoncé, a journey you can trace in detail in this in‑depth feature on her rise from The Native. You can read that full story here.