In transition: Afro House

Once upon a time it was the year 2017, I had just moved to Cape Town. After a night of playing a peak time Psychedelic Techno set with the other half of my duo, we both left Evol with Ms. Molly in the passenger seat of our Uber and love in our hearts. The only reasonable next step was rest. It was in this rest that I heard a distinct sound pass by in the distance, leaving a wave of curiosity in its Doppler effect. A wave which would be the groove that put my weary head to sleep.

The next morning, I agonized over that sound. What was that beautiful rhythm? How could it be so heavy? And why did it leave such a mark on my brain?

Cut to a month later at a photoshoot, stomping in time to log drums and heavy Reece basses, my body in flow to a very dark, melancholic melody. The groove from that night running through my veins.
“It makes me want to march,” I say to a fellow enthusiast. The music in question is Gqom. The name itself sounds like the genre’s key drum component and translates loosely from Zulu to “hitting drum”. At the same time, another sound was emerging; Amapiano. Both of these genres were peering their way from the underground.

It’s now 2023 and Amapiano is a clear mainstream entity and global export. In the underground, chatter around the stagnation of the genre has begun, while Gqom remains somewhat on the fringe. The once vibrant scene seems littered with talk of the sound lacking innovation, and the mainstream needing something fresh.

While DJs and producers hear this, the ‘resistance’ is still thriving with South Africa’s staple genre, Afro House, dubbed “the fourth wave” by Hannah Haïs in a Beat Portal interview. House, Techno, EDM and now Afro House.
Although the music has been around since the 1990’s, it is an ever-changing, ever- growing and ever-explorative genre. As music technology evolves, so does the sound and the quality of the productions.

My gut tells me that we are currently in a transitional period, where Afro House is slowly seeping into the global, mainstream consciousness. With names like Kid Fonque more recently representing the motherland through his label in the United Kingdom, it seems almost obvious to me that Afro House could indeed be as Hannah Haïs suggested. There is an excitement in the local community as more DJs begin revealing (and re-revealing) their Afro House collections.

Take note, however, that there is a new generation of underground producers and DJs who are fully embracing their digital workstations and exploring the more techno-esque sounds, giving rise to a sub-genre labelled “Afro Tech”. What is that you ask? A whole different article in fact.

I think this is an exciting time for electronic music in South Africa. No... The world... There seems to be a bright future for this 4-decade old genre. I cannot wait to see the creativity unfold as S.A. continues to bring joy to the globe through music. Through rhythms and grooves that run deep in our veins. It feels almost as if our ancestors are calling out to us from the distant past, to connect to one another. To re-form a tribe called Humankind and guide us through our evolution, toward our collective future as star-travelling, intergalactic beings.

Afro House Labels to look out for:

• Stay True Sounds

• Defected Records

• Aluku Records

• Aluku Rebels

• Selville Records

• Sculptured Records

• Candid Beings

• Just Moove

• Groove On

• Free Range

• Deep House Cats SA