Understanding Afro Tech's roots in ancient trance healing rituals
The music of the San people in the Kalahari Desert is deeply spiritual, rhythmic, and communal. It serves multiple purposes, including healing, storytelling, and social bonding. Their musical style is unique, featuring polyphonic singing, complex rhythms, and the use of indigenous instruments.
One of the most famous aspects of San music is its role in healing and trance dances. The N/um Tchai (trance healing dance) is a powerful ritual in which music induces a trance state, allowing shamans to connect with spiritual forces to heal the sick. N/um Tchai music features long, repetitive cycles to help dancers and shamans enter a deep spiritual state. The trance state is accompanied by heavy breathing, sweating, and trembling, believed to be signs of spiritual energy (n/um) rising in the body. The San believe this combination of rhythmic clapping, singing, and dance movements allows the healer to access the spirit world.
The trance-like nature of N/um Tchai has many similarities to the cyclical and spiritual nature of the Afro House and Afro Tech music from Southern Africa. One producer who has been deeply influenced by these spiritual traditions is TAU (BW) whose new pack Afrotech Kalahari was launched through Splice Sessions.
A sonic healer destined to touch people's lives with his deep understanding of sound, TAU was given the name "Hamzah" at birth. In Arabic, this translates to lion, and in his home country Botswana, he was nicknamed TAU, the Setswana interpretation of his real name. Growing up to the sounds of Kwaito and San Music , TAU's love for House music and African rhythms came from his earliest exposure to the local music played in his home village. His Indian ancestry taught him the sounds of Raag and Qawalli through the influence of the great composer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and others.
Since 2020, TAU has released several singles and EPs on labels like Get Physical Music, Afro House label Moblak Records, and Defected Records sublabel, Mahaba Records. His song, "People of Shaam" sat at the top of Traxsource charts for six weeks. He's also known for his official remixes of iconic songs like the hit "Vuli Ndlela" by the late Brenda Fassie, and the legendary Mango Groove's record Home Talk. His EP "Abafazi", made in collaboration with Thandi Draai and DA Africa Deep, is a tribute to women's struggle in Apartheid South Africa. His work has seen support from fellow artists like Black Coffee, Hyenah, Dixon, Themba, and even Oliver Khatib from Drake's OVO Sound. It is nothing short of exciting to see what the future holds for this upcoming talent.
Get lost in a trace of Afro Tech sounds today and download the Afrotech Kalahari : Tau sample pack by clicking the button below!