DJ Black Low - Impumelelo 2LP

Theres 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 with new ways of expressing this local turned-global style of dance music.

In DJ Black Lows musical imagination, the songs manage to smoothly vacillate between dreamy and firmly-grounded. Adorned with vocalists across most of the twelve tracks, theres a new dimension to Black Lows now-signature approach to abstract, angular deconstruction of the rhythmic developments in his songs. The album 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 youre somewhere else as the track concludes. There is an emotional and compositional maturity that builds on his earlier work. Vocals a