Platform for African dance music launched by Apple Music

A platform for African dance and electronic music has been launched by Apple Music.

The new platform, which has been named Isgubhu — the Zulu word for ‘beat’ — features South African DJ/producer Black Coffee as its first cover star, and will shine a light on subgenres like amapiano, gqom, kwaito and Shangaan electro. 

Speaking about Isgubhu, Stephen Campbell, Apple Music’s Global Head of Dance and Electronic music, said: “Apple Music has been a long term supporter of the incredible DJs, artists and producers within the Dance and Electronic music community in Africa and we’re very excited about the launch of Isgubhu. Our regional teams are true advocates for the culture and we’re committed to continuing to connect artists to a global audience.”

Black Coffee has curated the platform’s first playlist, Isgubhu Voices, which features electronic music with vocals, and elsewhere music can be found from labels like House Afrika and Stay True Sounds, as well as Uganda’s popular Hakuna Kulala and Nyege Nyege Tapes. Caiiro, Da Capo, DJ Zinhle, Kabza De Small and Stiff Pap have also been confirmed for mixes.

You can find out more about Isgubhu and tune into the platform via Apple Music here.

Earlier this month, Influential UK-based label, Big Dada, announced that it would be relaunching as a platform for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists.

In September last year, Apple announced a new bundled subscription model called Apple One. The bundle includes Apple Music, Apple Aracde, iCloud storage, Apple TV+ and their newly announced Apple Fitness+. The basic tier starts at only £5 more than Apple Music alone was previously, offering Music, Arcade, TV+ and 50GB of iCloud storage for £14.95 a month.