Reflecting one of the fastest-growing trends in electronic music, BEATPORT has announced the addition of its new Afro House genre. As organic instrumentation and African rhythms continue to influence the global house scene, Beatport’s Afro House page will represent the latest evolution in the sound.
In addition to the pioneers who’ve long pushed the genre, the popularity of Afro House can be heard in recent sets from the likes of Innervisions flag-bearers Dixon and Henrik Schwarz. The movement has come to international renown via South African house heroes including Black Coffee and Culoe De Song. Afro House has also inspired dedicated parties in Europe such as Rise, which regularly brings top proponents of the genre to the storied Watergate club in Berlin.
The Beatport Afro House page will feature regularly rotating content from the genre’s key players. This is set to include a monthly chart from the tastemakers behind Rise, content from some of the best labels releasing Afro House as part of their roster, including Innervisions, Tribe Records, and Keinemusik, and DJ charts from the likes of Jimpster, Zepherin Saint, Hyenah, and Pablo Fierro.
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MasterSounds mark their milestone birthday with a 10-day pop-up in ShoreditchBeatport Chief Product Officer Terry Weerasinghe says: “As a Board Member of Bridges For Music, I’ve been lucky to witness first-hand South Africa’s incredible passion for house music. I haven’t seen a place in the world where house music is such a central element of everyday life. Visiting vineyard events, I was stunned to see entire families, from grandparents to small children, enjoying a braai (BBQ) and partying to great music – and they all knew the songs!”
Weerasinghe adds, “The Afro House sound is now stronger than ever on dancefloors around the world. We’ve focused this year on building the best possible store experience for DJs, which makes it the right time to add this thriving genre to Beatport. In order to do it right, we’ve collaborated closely with the labels and artists at the forefront of the movement. Our dedicated team will curate the best Afro House tracks every week, and spotlight the artists you need to know about.”
The addition of Afro House is part of Beatport’s comprehensive 2017 genre clean-up, moving over 1.5 million tracks to their correct categories. February saw the new Leftfield House & Techno category added to the store, showcasing high-quality underground releases. This successful launch was followed by three new bass genres in August: Trap/Future Bass, Garage/Bassline/Grime and Leftfield Bass.
Afro House on Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/genre/afro-house/89
