Over the last year, the Gqom sounds emerging from Durban have garnered considerable attention thanks to a series of EPs and compilation released by various labels, most notably Gqom Oh!
With some of the scene’s key players set to travel to Europe to play a number of shows in the coming weeks, Goon Club Allstars will release a new record from one of the key proponents of the sound, DJ LAG. Above, taken from that record, are the sgubhu sounds of ’16th Step’.
Led by driving percussion, the track is a brooding piece of off-kilter club fare coloured by occasional out-of-time beats and flashes of trance-y synths. Sgubhu is a form of Afro house emerging from Johannesburg which is closely connected to the Gqom coming out of Durban with producers finding new ways to push the sound on.
Goon Club Allstars first introduced the wider world to the Gqom sound last year via an EP from RudeBoyz and the release of DJ LAG’s self-titled 12" on November 11 will once again offer a glimpse into the best music that the scene, and its associated sounds, has to offer.
