If you’re even remotely into London’s clubbing scene, it’s likely that you’ll have noticed a fresh new strain of dance music pounding across the capital over the last few years. A bit like bog standard house music if it wasn’t in such a hurry all the time, most of the welly in this viscous, slowed-down genre comes from the bass end; often, a chipper, churchy keyboard noodles jazzily over the top.
Constantly powering things forward is the gutsy, hollow thwack of the log drum, a hollowed out tree trunk which is used as a traditional percussive instrument. Though this sound has been gradually creeping onto the capital’s countless dance floors over the last few years already, in 2024 it is starting to dominate the cutting-edge of pop. Welcome to the world of amapiano.
