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It’s an exciting time to be both a new and old fan of African music, but how does it feel for African artists raised and working in the diaspora? As producers and consumers, these artists have a unique vantage point on this cultural shift. Jessica Kariisa speaks to Nazar, Hagan, Juba and Chief Boima and asks: what does music from “back home” mean today?

In this excerpt from Ears To The Ground: Adventures in Field Recording and Electronic Music, author and DJ Mag contributing editor Ben Murphy explores the use of found sounds in dance music as a means of examining and expressing cultural heritage in our surroundings

Flawless DJ, frequent hitmaker, dedicated mentor: Tony De Vit was a true hero of UK dance music. The most high-profile resident at hedonistic queer club Trade, he helped create the hard house sound, and was renowned not only for his impeccable mixing, but his compassion and care for others. Ahead of a new documentary, and with hard house at large once more, Stewart Who? reflects on his legacy with those he was close to, and those he influenced

1st May 1994 was the first big London protest against the looming Criminal Justice Bill, the piece of legislation that first proscribed a genre of music — rave music, “wholly or predominantly categorised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” — in law. Despite widespread demonstrations at what was seen as draconian power-grabs by the UK authorities, the Bill became law later in 1994. Here, Harold Heath looks back at the reaction from the dance music community at the time, and the Act’s lasting impact on the rave scene today

Sound systems have driven the development of music in the UK, powered by hard work, passion and innovation. But preserving UK sound system culture, its knowledge and history, while also pushing it forward, is no easy task today. Ria Hylton traces its path through ska and reggae at blues dances in West Indian households, to soul, boogie, hip-hop and house in ’80s warehouses and at the Notting Hill Carnival, to nationwide tours and global popularity, and finds out how initiatives like the Sound System Futures Programme are seeking to secure its future 

Though never afraid to show vulnerability before, Loyle Carner opens himself up more than ever on new album ‘hugo’, shedding the image of UK hip-hop’s perfect ‘nice guy’ to explore his reconnection with his estranged father and his Black heritage, and what it means to become a dad himself

On his upcoming 25-track opus ‘Ancestorz’ — which he describes as his life's work — long-serving jungle soldier Congo Natty unites many voices from across the diaspora, joining dots through the history of Black music and celebrating the new jungle generation. In a series of in-depth interviews for DJ Mag, he talks to Dave Jenkins about love, revolution, unity, and reclaiming his place in the history books