Blisspop covered Citizen Boy‘s “Indaba Ka Bani Besibenuza” last summer and our writing team has been discussing gqom over the last few weeks. This month, Gqom Oh! label founder Nan Kolé has a new EP on Black Acre backed by remixes by gqom acts Citizen Boy and Formation Boyz. Citizen Boy’s remix of “Malumz” has a rhythm that skips along in the darkness, a gasp keeping the beat as rolling snares share space with distant echoing water droplets.
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In an exciting announcement, Forward Festival is back for its 10th year and one of the first announced shows is the DC debut of the pioneering gqom act Rudeboyz on May 20th. RBMA has an excellent and endearing documentary on the gqom scene as well as the genre name’s correct pronunciation.