MOVES Recordings releases second compilation spotlighting Nigerian Freebeat sound': Listen

MOVES Recordings has released a second compilation spotlighting the Nigerian Freebeat sound, which marries elements of techno, gqom, amapiano and more. 

‘CRUISE! 2’ follows on from the EP ‘CRUISE! 1’ and features a host of key producers from the nascent electronic movement, which has erupted across the streets, bars and clubs of Nigeria in recent years, dominating social and video platforms, and hitting tastemaker blogs and online editorial in the process. Following the release of ‘CRUISE 2!’, two more EPs are due to arrive before the series is concludes, with all four EPs then set to become available as one 21-track release on 16th September. 

Artists including DJ Stainless & DJ Elede, DJ YK (pictured), DJ West & Fela 2, DJ OP Dot all feature on the tracklist, names synonymous with this fresh African dance scene, loosely referred to as ‘freebeat’, although the label is somewhat unofficial due to the sound’s infancy. Defined by tempos around 125 BPM, use of vocal samples and jagged percussion, most tracks are shared in low bit rates of 54kbps. Many original recordings are then ‘jacked’ by dancers, who speed the music up to around 140BPM and then film themselves performing to the beats, with videos then shared to TikTok.   

”After Femi or Seun Kuti have a gig they have the afterparty. Here, in-house selector DJ Step was playing amapiano, but making it faster – the Cruise sound is basically amapiano and gqom really sped up, with lots of samples added. The people that started taking in this new sound were rural everyday people that didn’t have anywhere to go after a long day of work,” said a MOVES Recordings spokesperson.

“The shrine is open to everyone of all socio-economic classes – because of how Fela approached his life, the everyday lower class people feel like they have a place there at the Shrine. Club-goers will tell you that you wouldn’t hear this sound on the Island [Victoria Island, an upmarket part of Lagos with a lot of the clubs]. They wouldn’t play Naira Marley on the Island, they wouldn’t play Cruise on the Island, but now it’s blown up, DJs have to play it everywhere.”