Amaarae’s latest album, Fountain Baby, represents a significant milestone in the journey of African music towards global recognition. In an interview with Pitchfork in 2020, Amaarae pondered the possibility of African music attaining the same level of popularity as Jamaican dancehall did in the early 2000s, thanks to artists like
London house music producer Bella Boo’s latest EP, Looney Talks, is a testament to her innate versatility and creativity. Best known for her ethereal approach to house music, Bella Boo takes a more contemporary, direct, and club-focused approach on this EP that speaks toward her knowledge of underground trends and
Afrobeat / AfroHouse / Amapiano / baile funk / balaeric house / dembow / Gqom / House / reggaeton
I’d like to begin this year with an introduction. Hi, my name is Tazmé Pillay. Editor of The Playground. If you’ve read most of the reviews and think pieces that we do here, chances are you’ve read most of my work. Coming into the end of last year, I knew
London’s Breaka is very much a product of the city’s multicultural and diverse underground scene. In essence, he’s a white guy named Charlie Baker who makes Black dance music. While the optics of that may be questionable to some, the landscape in the UK is notoriously open to embracing this
On the cover of her new album Phases, Moonchild Sanelly makes visual what is inherent to her as an artist: she is a multitude of things all at once. Though she had well established herself as an icon in her home country’s underground, South Africa’s Moonchild Sanelly has seen significant
The rise of South Africa’s gqom as one of the foremost genres in dance music can be traced back to one innovator: Durban’s DJ Lag. Widely credited as the pioneer of the form, it’s Lag who is responsible for gqom’s distinctive hard edged, bass heavy sound known colloquially as ‘uthayela.’
There’s something inherently badass about an artist or band using their name as the title of one of their songs. It’s quite metal, actually. In that genre, it’s seen as a sort of flex by a band who’ve reached a point at which they’ve garnered the merit to pull such
Amapiano / Bass / electronica / experimental / Gqom / Rave / trap
From classic PC Music mutations to atmospheric tech-house programmed for rainy days, we roundup our favourite releases of the week. In no particular order: Angel-Ho – Silent Plateau Angel-Ho approaches music much in the same way as a performance artist; bursts of improvisation followed through with a bit of refinement.
Amapiano / dreamhouse / drill'n'bass / experimental / Garage / hyperpop / Tech House / Techno
Over the past few years, Namibian born DJ and producer Gina Jeanz has risen to prominence as one of the foremost female DJs on the South African circuit. Known for her blend of smooth house and Afro fused club beats, she has quickly become a mainstay on the lineups of
From Sherelle’s BPM boosted jungle to Alice Glass’s cybergoth lo-fi synthpop, we roundup our favourite releases of the week. In no particular order: OXIA – FATE When we spoke with iconic French producer Oxia earlier this year, he warned us of an incoming EP. Fate would be the EP in
