You can achieve a lot just by removing one element. Sometimes, it even creates a genre offshoot of its own. By removing a kick in a 4/4 groove (usually the third or forth), producers like Thakzin helped to form the groundwork for 3-step, a new mutation within South African dance music. Though not the earliest example of 3-step (Prince Kaybee & Nokwazi made ‘Ebabayo’ back in 2021), he is the voice most consistently championing this style. After gaining international success, he started making 3-step as a way to bridge the gap between afrotech / deep house and amapiano, as he explains:
“I was having trouble finding the link, because now I’m here [in South Africa], I’m not playing playing overseas. I’m making the sound for there, but it’s not connecting much here”, he says in an interview about how the sub-genre came about. Then, he’d found a way in. “Firstly, it’s the rhythm. We love rhythm.”
3-step is all about feel. Tracks in this style have a hypnotically rigid yet lopsided groove, which has provided a foundation for artists to play around with blends of amapiano, house and afrotech. It’s a slippery style, and so far, not much has been written about it, outside of great contributions from Joshua Minsoo Kim and Singles Jukebox, and LokpoLokpo1.
Where it is having an impact is in the South African pop charts, which are dominated by the various strains of homegrown house music, as well as on social media, where dance challenges and memes can make or break a track. The genre was designed to work in any setting, but to my ears, there’s also a starkness and openness to 3-step in its current form. It’s yet another evolution in the current wave of producers helping to make South African dance music so distinct.
Thakzin – ‘The Magnificent Dance’
(Sondela Recordings, 2022)
This key track from Thakzin (pictured above) underlines the momentum and thrill 3-step offers with its fresh rhythmic approach. He nods to amapiano with brash snare and log drum fills, which give way to floating pads and stuttering percussion. It’s a freeing jam that sounds like the producer underlining his proof of concept.
Darque, Chopstar, Murumba Pitch – ‘Ntfombi’ (JNR SA Remix)
(Tambor Projects, 2022)
(Listen here) A friend of Thakzin and hitmaker in his own right with Mobi Dixon’s ‘When House Was House’, Jnr SA has gradually moved into the 3-step space in 2023. On ‘Ntfombi’, he shows the new flavour 3-step can bring to blissful vocal tracks. He transforms the original into something more weighty and impactful.
Dlala Thukzin feat. Zaba, Sykes – ’iPlan’
(Dlala Records, 2023)
Not to be confused with Thakzin, this Dlala Thukzin chart hit features 3-step more as a reference point than a genre tag. At times, the term is ostensibly a way for producers to differentiate themselves from the many others making amapiano or South African house, by offering a new building block. Here, the 3-kick pattern is a source of giddy anticipation. But that’s a lot of talk about kick drums and genre signifiers. What matters is that ‘iPlan’ is a stunner. Dlala Thukzin sings about having no money, just hope that things will get better. It’s uplifting, grief-stricken, and surprises with its depth.
MÖRDA feat. Oscar Mbo, Murumba Pitch – ‘Mohogin Sun’
(Asante Music, 2022)
Another hit that found its audience on social media, ‘Mohogin Sun’ rises out of that three-kick pattern. Murumba Pitch’s gorgeous vocal runs are layered up and played off fluid percussion embellishments. But the track sings when it melts away into nothing again at its half-way point. It shows 3-step to offer a more reflective kind of dance style.
Dwson – ‘Peta’
(IMPLSV, 2023)
One beautiful thing 3-step does is reveal the conversational threads between producers working in different styles. You can trace deep house and amapiano in it, of course, but you can also hear how those sounds reverberate internationally, to neighbouring countries and far overseas, before returning to connect with its origins again. This final track from Dwson reminds me of the deep house resurgence of my youth, when it was bubbling up again in the early 2010s, but in an entirely new context and with a different sound palette. What connects is that feeling of adventure, expression and experimentation. Who knows what the next mutation might be.
