#splashradio.co.uk

[splashradio]

Listen live @ Splashradio.co.uk every Friday 6pm for The Jungle Music Show #jungle #junglemusic #dnb #drumnbass

Splashradio.co.uk

Home of internet radio station based in Northampton, UK playing Hip Hop, R&B, House, Garage, Jungle, Dancehall, Reggae, Afro, Latin and UK d

[splashradio]

[splashradio]

New dance music every Tuesday 6pm - The Hot 120 on Splashradio.co.uk #newdancemusic #housemusic #afrohouse #techhouse #ukgarage #latinhouse #splashradio #splashradio #jungle #ukbass

Splashradio.co.uk

Home of internet radio station based in Northampton, UK playing Hip Hop, R&B, House, Garage, Jungle, Dancehall, Reggae, Afro, Latin and UK d

[splashradio]

Wellingborough Carnival Parade 2025 #wellingborough #wellingboroughcarnival #wellingboroughcarnival25 #wellingboroughcarnival2025 #carnival #carnivalparade #ukcarnival #jurassicpark #caribbeancarnival #festival #ukcarnival2025 #northamptonshire #splashradio.co.uk

Splashradio.co.uk

Home of internet radio station based in Northampton, UK playing Hip Hop, R&B, House, Garage, Jungle, Dancehall, Reggae, Afro, Latin and UK d

[splashradio]

What Is Afro Latin House?

Over the last couple of years, I have been mixing a fusion of house music on my radio shows originating mainly from South & Central America. Latin house is nothing new to any house music fan, and there is certainly a diverse range of latin house available to any DJ, playlist curator or fan.

To describe this genre of house music, it is very close to afro house. Throughout the 2010s and up to today in 2025, afro house has taken the world by storm influencing a wide range of genres with exciting new sounds, rhythms and ideas.  Of course, there are other genres influencing this latin house sound; Miami bass, tech house, minimal  & tribal house and the occasional acid house bassline makes its way into a new release. The mix of afro and latin house together however, for me is probably the most exciting combination of exotic polyrhythms, tribal vocal chant arrangements and hypnotic basslines.

Traditional Amapiano and afro house releases tend to come in at 115-123bpm giving a sensual, soulful and slow swing to the 4x4 beat pattern with plenty of space to explore. The releases I've been playing come in at a minimum of 123pm up to 130bpm, but I will usually mix between 126-129bpm. This slight raise in tempo is significant, allowing the tracks to attract more energy, thrust and immediacy. UK funky has a similar tempo and some afro latin house tracks have a similar Cuban triplet signature to them. Drum hits are usually, bold and brash and use of culturally significant percussion is a key element to this rhythm based sound.

The take away here is that rhythm is the key. Rhythm is the replacement for melodies which would usually be the other way round in the more robotic, compression heavy and melody driven commercial house genres. The rhythm is something which is daring you not to dance, or even move to.

Living in the UK, we are use to seeing exciting new dance genres created before flourishing around the world such as jungle, UK garage, dubstep, grime and UK funky. However, since the 2010s these trends of new UK dance genres have reluctantly dried up due to a number of varying factors. Other worldwide scenes have infiltrated the UK dance scene such as Amapiano, Gqom, African deep and soulful house, Chicago drill, trap, K-pop, Punjab, Balkan music and baile funk leaving their mark on the UK dance scene.

I remember playing this type of afro latin house at a venue on the 'Welly Rd' in Northampton last year, one of the dancers explained they had not heard this type of house before in Northampton but seemed to enjoy the new rhythms as she and her friends danced away.

As of 2025, there is an estimation of around a quarter of a million Latin Americans residing in the UK with the majority living in areas of London including Vauxhall, Stockwell, Kensington, Tottenham, Harlesden, Streatham and Hackney. From my previous experience, Elephant & Castle was a vibrant community for Latin Americans before a series of gentrifications efforts priced a lot of these communities out of the area such as the closing and demolishment of the historic 'Coronet' and the indoor Latin market. Cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol also house some Latin populations. Brazilians, Colombians, Venezuelans and Ecuadorians are the largest percentages of communities based in the UK, with Brazilians counting for around a third of the entire Latin population in the UK.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest tracks from the last two years that have intertwined the vibrant latin and elegant afro house sounds:

"Phoenix" by Luis Vargas

If anyone epitomizes this sound the most, it is the legendary DJ and producer Luis Vargas. Hailing from the melting pot city of talent Caracas in Venezuela, Luis Vargas' tracks blend an exotic fusion of tribal and pulsing drum patterns, deep sub basses and atmospheric rainforest samples and vocal chants. You are even lucky enough to hear that odd monkey noises in some of his tracks!  It is always a pleasure seeing his name pop up with a new release. "Phoenix" has an arresting and thought provoking American female vocal phrase before it drops into a tribal treasure chest. A beautifully incessant animal noise repeats through the colourful percussion elements. Check out some more of Vargas' tracks including "Vox Plo" "Daddy" and "The Moon"

Check it out here:

"Pompi" by Ronny Santana

Another Caracas native, this tech house producer has a distinct use of vocal one shots creating a sublime syncopated rhythm over a minimal drum sound and funky bassline. It's worth noting, Santana has a more playful, light hearted and tongue-n-cheek feel to some of the moodier and atmospheric tracks you will here on this page.  "Pompi" has a undeniable one note simplistic melody acting as the meat and bones for this irresistible groove.

Check it out here:

📷Pompi Provided to YouTube by Label Worx Limited Pompi · Ronny Santana Pompi ℗ Afterhours Recordings Released on: 2024-12-21 Producer: Ronny Santana Composer: Ronny Santana Music Publisher: Copyright Control Auto-generated by YouTube. www.youtube.com

"Be To" by DJ Mon8

Colombian Medelin native DJ Mon8 is a remix specialist providing a mix of English & Spanish vocal tracks as well as some essential instrumental work. His tracks are always full of energy and bounce,. As any budding producer will know, it can be very difficult to master natural rhythm in your beats, DJ Mon8 seems to have no issues with this. "Be To" is a stand out track released at the beginning of 2025 it reminded me of late 2000s UK funky vibes. This a classy cut oozing with swing and sex appeal.

Check it out here:

"Anthropology" by Camikazy Uzi

What a tune. Camikazy Uzi is a DJ/producer/vocalist/model from Paris, France but based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her background originates from groovy funky and afro house and in early 2025 she released single "Anthropology". This gem of a track has a seriously slamming rhythm to it. The intro has a repeated male vocal sample over an industrial sound of interference in addition to some light percussion before dropping fabulously with a warm walking bassline and  bass timbre reminiscent of 808 State's early 1990s Cubik album. Finger clicks and bongos spray around the mix creating the perfect tonic for totality, imagine trying to mix this track into your sets! I actually think this is my favourite drop and waiting for it to come leaves you hanging precariously on a string.

Check it out here:

"Africanmania" by David King DJ

From Cartagena, Colombia, David King DJ specialises in tech latin house vibes with some interesting melodic and vocal tracks. "Beat Yeah" is a recent standout track with a warm acid bassline under a constant, wavy and eerie female howl. His colloborations with Rayner Cmps have also been fruitful this year including track "Sexy Chapa". This track, "Africamania" uses a tasty shuffling rhythm and makes use of a tidy reverse snare, kitted out with some tasteful Latino vocal one shot chants.

Check it out here:

"Ritmo Cubano" by All Fred

Containing a salsa influenced male voice passage in Spanish, the tune drops into a bongo frenzy, occasionally dropping out at the end of bars with flavourful drum fills. This is a real feast of drumming polyrhythms courtesy of talented Mexican DJ/producer All Fred.

Check it out here:

"Canabona" by Sr Saco & Maxvei

A moody captivating mix of a minimal Latin guitar riff and synths gives way for an essential Latin groove punctuated by bongos and a frantic woodblock rhythm over a one-note bassline. Only just released by Dominican Republic born Sr. Saco , this is one of my favourites in the mix already!

Check it out here:

"Dreams" by Hidari

This track is dominated by an uplifting, soothing  and trickling synthline throughout the course of the track, floating above a glorious afro house style beat with a nice punchy snare giving the mix a real sense of urgency. Not much is known about the producer (Hidari) although this track is taken off Maratek Records a Portuguese Techno and house label managed by M. Rodriguez.

Check it out here:

https://www.traxsource.com/title/2094327/dreams

"Vamos Latino" by DJ Titan Music & Edward Blaze

Always good fun to unload this in the mix as it is completely danceable. A slightly off-beat but punishing rhythm with a female voice repeating "Vamos Latino" over a minimal drum kit. Simple but so effective and that's why I love it! Colombia's DJ Titan Music teamed up with Venezuela producer Edward Blaze for this crucial collaboration.

Check it out here:

You can listen to these songs exclusively on Splashradio.co.uk on The Afro & Latin House Show, Monday at 2pm and Saturday 6pm. Also, hear DJ Rax spinning the best afro house and latin house tracks on Sounds Of The Underground, Saturday 8pm & Monday 4pm . Splashradio.co.uk has all the new releases in afro and latin house which you can hear on Splash New Releases  everyday from 6am (all timea GMT).

For all latin music tune in to Splashradio.co.uk Tuesday 3pm, Wednesday 4pm for The Latin Hour (all times GMT).