Afrotech producer releases debut single
DIGITAL agency company Point Black Africa, recently began working with DJ and producer, HALU! (pictured in graphic), who completed his installation on the Afro house scene with the release of two singles off his EP titled Call Me HALU!.
e debut single, released on September 9, was premiered by Apple Music and features collaborations with celebrated Zimbabwean vocalists. e partly instructional and partly self-titled three-dimensional musical offering has seven tracks that feature a rich blend of heart-pounding percussions, rich synths and transcendent progressions.
HALU! was created by veteran DJ and producer Reverb7, real name John Mahalu, as the anti-thesis to the genre-bending sounds that allowed him to become one of Zimbabwe’s most sought-after performers and composers.
Reverb7 the musical protagonist and HALU! the percussion-pumping antagonist are comparable to Dr Jekyll and his alternative personality Mr Hyde, from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the story, Jekyll has dual personalities and finds a way to transform himself and thereby indulge his vices without fear or favour. Except, in this scenario, the laboratory that was the set piece of the classic literary tale was replaced by a studio and dance floor.
e unknown and elusive HALU!, fuses elements of Afrotech, electro house and African traditional music to create his own unique sonic offering, while Reverb7 compiles a mixture of Afro-centric and Electrocentric synthesisers with dub step bases.
Where reverb7 is liberal with his selections, HALU! is militant and dogmatic in his approach.
Award-winning singer and actress Adiona Chidzonga features in Reverb7 vs HALU!, in a track titled Fambai Neni. e remixes are made up of five reworked songs made by HALU!’s more popular alter ego and upgraded by HALU! himself.
e singles titled Mwana and Muchationa feature Zimbabwean vocalists Ulethu (Mwana) and Tina Masawi (Muchationa) and have already received incredible support from Apple Music and Spotify.
Mwana has been featured as the lead song on Apple Music’s biggest Afro house playlist, Afro House Nation. e song also got placement on New Music Daily, Afro House Nation
and Isghubu.
Following her latest release titled Cora De Hielo earlier this year, Tinashe Masawi lends her voice with commanding Shona lyrics on Muchationa.
Ulethu, who also follows her latest release Shewe, captures empowerment and the spiritual sounds effortlessly on Mwana.
“We appreciate the support we are getting from Apple Music, Spotify and the international house music community. HALU! is getting a lot of big placements that are not normally offered to a new Zimbabwean act. We can’t wait for local music lovers to hear the project,” Point Black Africa managing director, Phil Chard, told IndependentXtra.
HALU! has two albums dropping over the next three weeks, including a project scheduled for release today. Another one is expected to come out next week, followed by a single with an international collaborator.