Afro house

A subgenre of house music that developed mainly in South Africa in the 2000s. It blends house’s steady four-on-the-floor groove with African rhythms, percussion and musical traditions. It typically runs at around 118–124 BPM and features layered, polyrhythmic drums and hand percussion, deep basslines, chanted or soulful vocals often sung in African languages, and organic instruments such as marimbas, flutes and guitars. DJs and producers such as Black Coffee, Culoe De Song, Djeff and Shimza shaped its development, with Black Coffee becoming its most prominent global ambassador. In the late 2010s and 2020s afro house spread to clubs and festivals worldwide, influencing artists from Keinemusik in Berlin to the wider house scene. It is related to, but distinct from, the younger South African genre amapiano.