Shuffle-heavy drums, simmering percussion, and spirit-lifting vocals—Splice Sessions: South Africa takes you to the heart of a legendary dance scene. Splice, the platform that helps music creators brought their ideas to life, has launched Splice Sessions: South Africa.
With five new sample packs spanning genres from Afro House, amapiano, and gqom to Afro Tech, the collection captures the region’s sounds, instruments, and culture. Previously, Splice Sessions has released sample packs from Senegal and Anguilla.
Recorded at Jazzworx, Johannesburg’s premier recording studio, Splice worked alongside veteran and rising South African musicians, including Kooldrink (Tyla, Aluna), Dr Feel (Defected), Afro Tech duo Kususa (Defected, Get Physical, Armada), and legendary guitarist Themba Mokoena (Sibongile Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, Dorothy Masuka). Splice Sessions: South Africa amplifies the voices of musicians and producers who carry the soul, depth, and unmistakable energy of South Africa’s musical heartbeat.
A new “Afro” genre has been added to the Splice “Create” tool, allowing producers, songwriters, and instrumentalists to use these samples with Splice AI to build song starters and stacks. In 2024 Afro House was the third fastest-growing genre for Splice users in Johannesburg, with a spike in downloads of over 200%. Afro House draws attention from international producers and ranks in the top ten of Splice’s most searched-for genres.
“Partnering with Splice has been an amazing opportunity to elevate the authentic sounds of South Africa,” said Kususa. “We’re very excited to share our pack and hope that it inspires other producers.”
Kooldrink said, “Putting together the Amapiano Pop pack for Splice was such a fun experience. Amapiano has its own unique vibe, and I wanted to make it easy for producers everywhere to tap into. Can’t wait to share this with South Africa and the world—hope it inspires more artists to play around with the sound and push it even further!”
“We’re excited to bring these South African sounds to creators around the world. Genres like Afro House, Afro Tech, and amapiano are shaping the future of music,” said Kenny Ochoa, Splice SVP of Content. “The team had an incredible time working with these local musicians to capture the energy of South Africa and Johannesburg and the result is electric.”
Cece Smith 