Afro House
House · 2003 · 118 to 125 BPM · also known as Afro Deep, Afro Tech, African House
Afro house is house music rewritten from South Africa and its diaspora, where kwaito, traditional percussion and deep house all meet. Its rhythms are polyrhythmic and patient, its vocals often sung in local languages, and its spirituality is embraced rather than hidden. It went global through the 2010s and shifted house music's center of gravity toward Johannesburg and Lisbon, reshaping the genre's sound worldwide.
14 reference tracks
- Osunlade: Envision (2003)
- Culoe De Song: Webaba (2009)
- Black Coffee: Superman (2009)
- Black Motion: Rainbow (2013)
- Black Coffee: We Dance Again (2015)
- Da Capo: Afrika (2014)
- &ME, Rampa, Adam Port: Muyè (2021)
- Black Coffee: 10 Missed Calls (2019)
- Adam Port & Stryv: Move (2024)
- Culoe De Song: Dweller Of The Jungle
- Culoe De Song: Gwebindlala
- Dennis Ferrer: Funu (Cameroun Guitar Dub)
- Black Coffee: Come to me
- Culoe De Song: The Fallen Siren
At a glance
- Tempo: 118 to 125 BPM
- First appeared: around 2003
- Machines: FL Studio, Roland TR-909, Ableton Live, Native Instruments Massive
- The sound: Percussions log drum et shakers, Voix zoulou et xhosa, Nappes deep house
- Labels: Keinemusik, Innervisions, Gondwana Records, Soul Candi, House Afrika, MoBlack
- Key artists: Black Coffee, Culoe De Song, Da Capo, Themba, Enoo Napa
Producing Afro House
Afro house sits between 118 and 124 BPM, slower and more patient than the tribal house it descends from, its feel coming from polyrhythm: a straight four-beat kick underneath percussion written in 6/8 or 12/8, giving a ternary sway over a binary base. Build the drums from a round, not-too-loud kick, very little clap, a rim or wood percussion instead, and a heart of sampled African percussion, djembe, dundun, shekere, udu, in triplet motifs with a continuous sixteenth-note shaker and a discreet log drum answering the kick. Keep phrases long, sixteen or thirty two bars, over tracks running seven to nine minutes that settle in like a ceremony. The bass is a supple deep house tone, filtered to 200 or 300Hz, placing notes on the triplets as well as the eighths, often just one or two notes per phrase.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Afro House?
Afro house is house music rewritten from South Africa and its diaspora, where kwaito, traditional percussion and deep house all meet. Its rhythms are polyrhythmic and patient, its vocals often sung in local languages, and its spirituality is embraced rather than hidden. It went global through the…
What tempo is Afro House played at?
Between 118 and 125 BPM.
Who are the key Afro House artists?
Black Coffee, Culoe De Song, Da Capo, Themba, Enoo Napa.
