As a dancer I am always on the hunt for music that moves me to dance. Lately, I’ve been hearing some pretty fire movement inducing Afro House sounds. But they haven’t been the typical Afro House/Afro Tech sound I am used to. The sound seems to be a bridge between Amapiano and Afro House, often with a constant clicking sound effect in the background. The descriptor on many of these tracks often state “afro house 3 step” A descriptor that of course peaked my curiosity. Is this a new sound, what are the characteristics, who create it and who is pioneering it?
One artist whose music has been inspiring me to move is Matz Muziq, a Zimbabwean Dj and producer. In the last 2 months Matz dropped 2 fire 3 Step Afro House tracks: 1) KONZI: A bass heavy groovy banger that immediately had me up and dancing. And 2) ANCIENT FUTURE: a faster paced but multi rhythmic track that shows the creativity in rhythm patterns being explored in 3 step Afro House.
I had the pleasure to connect with Matz Muziq to talk about these two tracks and his sound.
KEN_KEN: Matz thank your for your time and congrats on the 2 new songs. I just recently discovered your music, and I’m thankful for YouTube music recommending your songs. Can you introduce yourself to the audience ?
MATZ MUZIQ: Thank you so much for this opportunity Ken.
So I am Matz Muziq, I am 24 years old, born and raised in Zimbabwe. I was born in Zaka, a district that’s pretty much unknown.
KEN_KEN: How long have you been producing music and what inspired you to become a music producer ?
MATZ MUZIQ: I have been producing music since 2019. In 2017, I relocated to Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe to play basketball. When I relocated I lived with my brother. He had a friend- Rumszi Amani, who was a doctor and a music producer. Whenever Rumszi was producing beats, I often visited and would give him beat suggestions. One day he told me that I should start making my own music, he asked me to bring a flash drive and he gave me this software (Fruity Loops). I took the software and began creating music.
Around 2019, while I was in university studying Information Technology, I became friends with Savagie Beats, a fellow music lover who was also a sound engineer. He gave me a lot of advice on how to produce music with quality sound that doesn’t hurt the ears of the listener. So I spent time focusing on the audio quality. I wasn’t really concerned about my musical creativity because I know I’m highly creative; so I focused on the sound quality.
In 2020, I released my first song with Savagie Beats. It was an instrumental remix of a song called Shuwelele. The song did well, and this motivated me to do more. I continued in my producer journey while attending university. Some time later I met a guy name Oracle who listened to my music and liked it. We shared a similar vision for the future, and he later became my manager. Oracle discovered Choc NY, who had a studio, and we began working together to record artists on our instrumentals.
At first I had to prove to Choc NY that my vision was feasible. My goal was to help create a more unified Zimbabwean music industry, one where we can all live a better life. At the time Choc had a song he produced and I offered to make the song better. I improved the song and showed him the results and he loved it. The song is called Wapapenga, also released in 2020. From then, Choc allowed us to work with other artists and to record in his studio for free. He introduced me to Zherklin, a female artist I could not resist. She has contributed her beautiful vocals on tracks, like Wakapenga, Feel Alive, Move Your Body etc
KEN_KEN: So 3 step is a new sound that I’m only now identifying the name of. Over the past year I kept hearing this unique rhythm pattern in Afro House but never really understood it to be a sub-genre. Can you help to explain what 3 step is ? What are the characteristics of the sound ?
MATZ MUZIQ: I learned about 3-Step through my manager Oracle who posted about it on his instagram. The concept of 3-Step came from the kick concept. Most kicks usually hit 4 times. 3-Step is mainly focused on the kick, that it should hit 3 times and skips the 4th. It has a specific bass line that is being used commonly like that of the song Mohigan Sun, one of the great 3-step songs by Mörda and Oscar Mbo. I chose not to use it because I always want to be unique. Otherwise, 3-step music is mainly focused on the kick hitting 3 times.
KEN_KEN: let’s talk about your two latest tracks Konzi and Ancient Future. How would you describe each track and what was the creative process like ?
MATZ MUZIQ: As my first genre was Amapiano, I decided to extend to house music and then I heard 3-step Afro House, and adored it. I then went on to make the track called ANCIENT FUTURE. I asked Ace Frvr, if he was interested in the track and he said yes. Ace is one of the DJs who pushes dance music in my country, he and this younger brother of mine, not by blood, called Yanotic Trooper. They accepted the idea and we released the song; It was well received. I was motivated by the views and decided to make KONZI. Konzi didn’t really do well in terms of views but my manager told me it was better than Ancient Future despite having less views. I was also inspired by Ken who I never expected could’ve been reached by my music. He made me feel alive because he was far away from me in the USA. I loved that I was reaching beyond borders.
KEN_KEN: I’m just thankful, your music showed up in my YouTube feed. I am often hunting for new music that excites me to dance, so if a song doesn’t grip me in the first 30 seconds I usually skip it. And yours had me right away. Hearing your story and how you focused on sound quality makes absolute sense. I remember listening to the music on my headphones and just fully captivated by the quality of the sound. I actually heard Konzi before I heard Ancient Future. So my first love was Konzi, then I heard Ancient Future and loved it equally.
KONZI
ANCIENT FUTURE
KEN_KEN: Who are your musical inspirations and how do you keep yourself motivated to create?
MATZ MUZIQ: When I was young, I was inspired by Oliver Mtukudzi, Victor Kunonga and all the greats (Zimbabwean artists) from the 90s going back for they were focusing on the Jazz elements in the music. I always loved their uniqueness.
Matz recently dropped a fire mix on YouTube. One thing I love about mixes is the ability to discover new and exciting songs. I love a mix that moves me from start to finish and that’s exactly what this mix did. Give it a listen.
MATZ 3 STEP AFROHOUSE MIX
Be sure you are following Matz Muziq on Youtube, Spotify and IG.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MatzMuziq
IG: @prospermatz