A Colombian label hands South Africa's club underground a record: TraTraTrax opens its Sampler series with 'Mzansi Bass'

What is 'Mzansi Bass'?

TraTraTrax, the Bogotá label that has spent years pulling Latin American club music into the wider underground, has pointed its attention at South Africa. 'Mzansi Bass', curated by London DJ Shannen SP, is the first record in a new series the label calls Sampler, built to spotlight regional club sounds from across the Global South. Mzansi is the everyday name for South Africa, and the eight tracks play like a tour of it: 3-step, gqom, amapiano and Pitori rap, with Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria all in the frame.

Who is on it?

The selection leans on both established and emerging names. DJ Lag, the Durban producer who did more than almost anyone to carry gqom out of South Africa, turns up with 'NOPS'. Shannen SP opens the record alongside HENNYBELIT on the title track, and there are cuts from Jay Music, Deep Narratives, Audio Addicts, State OFFF, Barbie SZN, plus a LYZZA and Boniface collaboration. Eight tracks deep, it lands on a limited 12-inch as well as digital.

Next time someone tells you the dance floor is finished, put this on.