Afroswing

Characteristics#

Afroswing is largely defined by its melody rather than a specific tempo. Martin Connor, an expert in vocal melodies and rap analysis, described the characteristics of the genre as being " … technically in , what you will hear over and over again is this recurring pattern made up of three notes that are still repeated in the framework of a time signature … You can hear the inspirations of Jamaican music in the rhythm except Jamaican music doesn’t have a bass kick and the snare – that’s hip hop, that’s traditional rap. So this is that translation of cultures happening subtly in the instrumentation. Yet it still has a hip hop sensibility in terms of lyrical focus and music videos: cars, money, authenticity, hardness".

Origins#

The rise of afroswing is in large part a result of the slow acceptance of African-derived sounds in the UK. The first genre to really embrace African influenced music and push it into the mainstream was UK funky via artists such as Donae’o, and in early-2010s, afrobeats, with artists such as Mista Silva, Kwamz, Fuse ODG, and Timbo gaining mainstream success through their afrobeats sound. Around the same time, artists such as Sneakbo and Timbo were incorporating melodic rap and Caribbean influences into their music. These artists collectively set the foundation for what would later turn into afroswing, and contributed to the rise of youth embracing their African heritage. In 2010, Sneakbo released “Touch Ah Button”, an early example of the merger of dancehall and afrobeats influences. In February 2014, Timbo and Mover released “Ringtone”, which DJ Kenny Allstar credited as opening “the door to the bridge of Afro-rap and the evolution of Afroswing, which was essentially someone laying a hook over a rap record”. Together they fused afrobeats, bashment, and trap, along with a melodic style of rapping with gritty, hood lyrical themes derivative of road rap. J Hus and Timbo have both received credit for pioneering the genre. Due to being a new genre, there was some confusion on what to call it initially. Kojo Funds has explicitly stated he is not trying to be defined as an afrobeats artist and to instead refer to his music as afroswing. Blairy Hendrix and Joshua Beatz, producers for J Hus, were in 2014 initially calling their sound “Traprobeats”, denoting the various influences of afrobeats and trap music. The name “Afroswing” was initially coined by rapper Kojo Funds, as well as being pushed by prominent producer Juls. The name implies the fusion of “afro”, from afrobeats, with the mixture drums derived from R&B and dancehall which the genre “swings” between using. Spotify however, opted to go for “AfroBashment”, a term coined by Austin Daboh who was hired by BBC 1Xtra, denoting its fusion of bashment and afrobeats styles. Many new artists began to crop up from 2015 onwards, such as Kojo Funds, Not3s, Don EE, and ZieZie.

Success#

The genre has been supported by YouTube channels such as GRM Daily, Link Up TV, and Mixtape Madness, which has allowed artists to easily release music videos to potentially millions of listeners and propagate the genre as a result. and J Hus’ single “Did You See” got to number 9 on the charts and became the most-streamed single of 2017. B Young released “Jumanji” in 2018. The song became a hit, selling over 600,000 copies and garnering over 40 million streams, also peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, afroswing artists such as WSTRN, Yxng Bane, Not3s, and Hardy Caprio appeared at SXSW festival in Texas; this is the first time the genre had ever been represented at the festival.

See also#

• UK drill
• UK Afrobeats Singles Chart