Africanism, Vol. 1

Africanism was a collective of mainly French producers, most of them white, many of them quite commercial in other context – David Guetta even contributed briefly – yet despite the potential for this all going terribly wrong, somehow they managed to produce music that not only moved clubs at the time but stands up on its own merits many years later. In particular the mighty DJ Gregory managed to create a particular language of loping syncopation and house directness that would directly inspire Black ravers, DJs and producers in both South Africa and the UK. The latter would weave many of his productions into the hybrid sound that became UK funky to wonderful effect. The whole first Africanism volume, with Afrobeat, disco, samba and more all colliding with irreverent glee still sounds like a party in itself.