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Amapiano has become a world-conquering genre since emerging in South Africa over a decade ago, with the sound mutating in recent years to solidify its place as an embedded dance music culture. Here, Shiba Melissa Mazaza asks: who are the South African artists carrying the torch for amapiano right now?
 

We run through some of the finest parties on offer during Miami Music Week 2024

Keith McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes, aka Optimo (Espacio), have helped define Glasgow’s musical landscape for over two decades with their eclectic and dynamic dancefloor selections. As 2022 marks Optimo’s milestone 25th anniversary, a tour of their home city reveals the ethos behind their inimitable sound

Lifting the vocals from Jah Screechy’s reggae standard 'Walk & Skank’, SL2’s‘On A Ragga Tip’ surfed the hardcore rave wave at the turn of the 1990s before crossing over to bring breakbeats and bass into the pop charts. The track has transcended genres and styles to stand alone as an enduring dance classic. Joe Roberts calls up Slipmatt, aka Matt Nelson — the ’S’ in SL2 — to learn its story

The California-raised producer Channel Tres is a natural born trailblazer. As the name behind Compton House, he’s found admirers for his self-coined genre within funk, hip-hop and pop audiences. In his forthcoming album ‘Head Rush’, he’s expanding upon that diverse aesthetic by tapping into his divine intuition to tell his life story and introduce the world to new depths of his musicality

Kuedo’s first album, 2011’s ‘Severant’, blended filmic synths with trap beats and provided a blueprint for synthwave artists the world over. But after scoring a Blade Runner animation with Flying Lotus and various other projects, his new record offers a more expansive vision. George Bass quizzes him about avoiding nostalgia, eco-anxiety, and finding the confidence to make his music more emotional