DJ Black Low - Impumelelo

There’s more than a hint of ambition on the double LP sophomore effort from Sam Austin Rabede, the producer known as DJ Black Low. Pretoria, South Africa-born and based, the young man makes Amapiano (Zulu for "the pianos"), a subgenre of house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive basslines.

In DJ Black Low’s musical imagination, the songs manage to smoothly vacillate between dreamy and firmly-grounded. Adorned with vocalists across most of the twelve tracks, there’s a new dimension to Black Low’s now-signature approach to abstract, angular deconstruction of the rhythmic developments in his songs.

Impumelelo references influences and ambitions in its song titles and lyrics while the music itself is anthemic in its sonic and structural aspirations. On many of the songs a slow-burning tension transforms into something unexpected until you’re somewhere else as the track concludes. There is an emotional and compositional maturity that builds on his earlier work. Vocals and lyrics are in focus.

Production collaborators among Black Low’s Gauteng Province circle add to the constantly churning array of ideas that populate this consistently surprising release. Despite being a relative newcomer, DJ Black Low is onto something here. (Rhythm Method)

Tracklist:
01. Thando
02. Akulalwa
03. Bo Mbali Leboh Palesa
04. Dlozi Lam
05. Lepiano
06. Lovey
07. Mekete
08. Mjolo
09. Oskido
10. Qhude
11. Umshato
12. Drive Through