Selections: Gina Jeanz
Club music from across Africa and its diaspora has been in excellent health in recent years, but with new players like Namibia’s Gina Jeanz hitting their stride, things are looking increasingly electrifying. The DJ and producer’s new collaborative track with Karen Nyame KG, ‘Sovereign Groove’, is resplendent with deep, Afro-tech textures and widescreen pads that illuminate the genre’s evolving, hybridised sound, whilst offering a glimpse into Jeanz’s own globetrotting palette.
Most recently, Jeanz relocated to Zürich, having spent time the bulk of her creative career in the South African capital of Cape Town. As such, her sound swerves confidently from progressive R&B, house and alternative soul, into pockets of Afro house, gqom and beyond, blended together with a timeless sense of groove, dynamic range and energy. It’s an atmosphere she conjured on her recent EP, ‘For Dreamers’, on the newly launched Temper Tone label, which she described as “a glimpse into my ongoing journey, a reflection of my transformation as I have both resisted and surrendered to this new chapter.”
Since upping sticks to Switzerland last year, Jeanz has also found her groove on the European DJ circuit, joining Franky Wah at Club Chinois for his SHÈN Ibiza takeover earlier this summer, and headlining Club Djembe’s summer party at Stereo London. For this week’s DJ Mag Selections entry, the polymath spotlights favourites from these recent DJ sets, from fiery Afro-tech and amapiano heaters, to sun-seeking soul, piano house and beyond. Dive in below.
