Emerged in 2012 in South Africa, Ampiano is a mix of deep house, jazz and lounge music. The Spotify documentary has featured artists from South Africa and across the world whose music was inspired by the Ampiano music genre.
"When you mix Ampiano with traditional Moroccan music [gnawa], it connects people. And when you introduce live instruments, people just love it, as it's changing culture," Flomine said in the documentary.
The Moroccan DJ spoke about his latest song, "Ghorba,'' in which he reinvented and explored the South African genre in a unique way. "Ghorba is not only Amapiano, it's a mixture with a lot of live instruments," he said.
According to Spotify, Amapiano has seen remarkable international success over the past two years, with more than 563 percent streams outside Sub-Saharan Africa and over 980 million global streams to date.
Spotify predicts that Ampiano streams on its platforms will reach one billion in July 2022.
That's why it seems so natural that the newest episode of Spotify: Mic Check, would explore the increasingly popular sub-genre of African music, Amapiano, through the eyes of rising Moroccan DJ Flomine, whose sound is inspired by the roots of Amapiano and Ghorba music.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Fresh off of being featured on Spotify’s AmaPiano Grooves Playlist, Spotify: Mic Check sits down with Flomine to hear more about his Moroccan upbringing in Casablanca, decision to move to London to pursue his musical endeavors, the creative process behind Amapiano music, and a preview of his next project.
See below for interview highlights in the episode:
Flomine on moving to London and pressure to achieve success in his music career. “After that, I was like - I thought it's going to be easier for me to, achieve in music, but it was the other way around. It was so hard. There were a lot of musicians, a lot of artists. I was like, How can I do this? And I can't go back again to Morocco because they would laugh at me. They were like, 'Well, you went all the way there, you spent all that money to go there and do this, and then you haven't achieved it. Why are you coming back again here?'”
Flomine on success as a DJ and buying a house in Morocco for his parents. “When I was deejaying, I went back to Morocco and I bought a house for my parents, and they were crying. They were so proud because they were scared for me that I'm going to come here and then fail. My dad was so proud. He was shocked. He was like, Um, what do you do? Like, how can you just come and buy a house and with you, the drug? I was like. I do drugs, music, drugs. My only drug is music. Now he's listening to my music every day. It was an amazing feeling, and it made me so happy as well. It did achieve something in my life and then for their lives as well.”
Flomine on his unique sound that mixes Ghorba and Amapiano. “Ghorba is a mixture between um, Amapiano and Gnawa music and a bit of jazz. Ghorba means homesick. Amapiano is like a mixture between that deep house bass line and then Afro music, and I added a bit of Gnawa sound like either the Ghimbri Instruments. It's like a bass has three strings, and it has like a bass sound by its a really unique bass sound.”
Flomine on being featured on Spotify’s Amapiano Grove playlist. “And once you were featured there, all the other playlists are adding it. And that's what made it really big on, on streaming platforms as well. Um, so it did open a big door for me, to be honest. Because before we used to have CDs, and then you have to go outside and try to sell CDs and wait the whole day, she said. Just to see this is true. But I think now Spotify made it really easy, like for people just to, you know, I mean, just go to a distribution company, upload your music thanks to Spotify by those playlists, you know, I mean open a lot of doors as well, which is cool.”
Flomine on his latest project that is in the works. “Every city in Morocco has a unique sound. I'm working on this EP that has like six or seven songs, and then each song I call a different city, but not only Morocco is going to be like the whole world. So what I'm doing, I'm traveling to each country, and then I will discover their sound. And then I will take that sound and then mix it with Amapiano and then add some Moroccan touch as well.”
“So my first trip is going to Paris, France, and then going to Italy, Dubai, Korea. So I'll be traveling a lot this year to record different
sounds and bring some musicians together.”
You can listen to the full episode here.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank You for your input and feedback. If you requested a response, we will do so as soon as possible.