Kitty Amor on Keeping Afro House Rooted as It Goes Global [Q&A]

Kitty Amor did not wait for Afro house to become an industry talking point. For years, the London DJ, producer, and Mahaba Music boss has lived and breathed the sound, actively working to bring African and African-influenced electronic music to bigger stages. She brings every part of herself to that work: Black African, Black British and queer.

The rooms keep getting bigger. She has played fabric, Junction 2, Glastonbury, Tomorrowland, Ultra and ANTS Ibiza, while her ADE takeover in Amsterdam sold out. Then there is “The Amor Effect”: what happens when her blends and rhythms blare across the room, and the crowd lets go. You can hear that pull in her records, too. “One Night,” made with Alan Dixon, drives hard; her recent track “Shine A Light” reaches for something warmer, built around hope and the promise of better days.

Kitty is not chasing visibility for herself alone. She wants Black crowds in dance music’s biggest rooms. She wants women of color coming behind her to see a route through – from the dance floor to the booth, the label office and the headline slot at the top line of the poster.

On September 25, she joins Beatport Connect LA at W Hollywood for “The Global Language of Dance Music,” a conversation about how sound crosses borders, how diaspora communities reshape club culture and what genuine exchange demands. 

Ahead of the panel, Kitty speaks to Beatportal about learning from South Africa, remixing Papa Wemba and why the industry needs to get back on the ground. 

Limited General Acess tickets are available here! 

Your music reflects your Black African, Black British and queer identities. As your audience becomes more global, what does staying rooted look like in practice?

Revisiting why I became a DJ helps me stay grounded now more than ever. Staying rooted on a global scale is becoming tougher as the electronic music scene places more demands on artists that have little to do with music, from selling large numbers of tickets to maintaining social media popularity. Those pressures tend to favor artists from certain demographics, making it challenging for someone with my identities to even get a look in.

I stay as rooted as possible by keeping my tastemaking output unique, keeping the stories of my ancestors alive through music, and adapting to the changing climate.

You’ve described your first visit to South Africa as a turning point in understanding how deeply Afro house is woven into everyday life. How did that experience change the way you carry the music elsewhere?

It helped me respect the history behind the music and further nurtured my relationship with what I push forward. I now make a point of spotlighting talented producers, artists, and DJs from across the continent, not only South Africa.

At first, I played the music faster because that is how we consume electronic music in Europe. However, I quickly learned that slower tempos of 118 to 122 BPM could still move dance floors and create incredibly special moments. That taught me how to balance the pace of Europe with the rhythm of Africa.

Dance music travels faster than ever, but context does not always travel with it. What separates genuine cultural exchange from simply borrowing a sound?

I have always encouraged artists to travel, not only when they have a DJ booking, but to take a more journalistic approach to visiting countries that produce and consume the music they make and play. Taking the time to learn and really soak up the culture, history, and dance music experience will always show in how you treat the music and its sonic elements.

There has been plenty of discussion about where Afro house has gone and how heavily the sound has been borrowed with no regard for its people or history. Unfortunately, not many artists take the time to educate themselves. With advances in technology and access to tools that make the job faster, I don’t think culture is appreciated as much today as it once was.

Have you experienced a moment on tour when rhythm connected a crowd across differences in language, nationality, or background?

Oh, 100%! I will never forget the first time I played Tomorrowland’s CORE in Medellín, Colombia. I played AVG’s “Suave” from my label, which puts a clever Afro house spin on Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente,” and the whole stage erupted.

I had researched the songs that were staples of Latin culture for the generation I was playing to, and I knew it would work. What I loved was that the crowd engaged with the authentic sound of Afro house while also connecting with the nostalgia of the song.

Through Mahaba Music, you champion artists from the African continent and its wider diaspora. How can labels help local sounds reach global audiences while ensuring their originators retain recognition and agency?

Labels can help when they are committed to the sound’s origins, even as it evolves. If a label is always chasing trends and whatever is popular today, it will not help keep the genre authentic.

Everything is about balance. I am always pleased to see labels showcase local talent through remixes of global hits, which can introduce audiences to producers from the places where those sounds originated.

Your remix of Papa Wemba’s “Yolele” brings a Congolese classic to a new generation of dancefloors. What can a remix preserve or reveal as music travels across borders and generations?

How far music can travel nowadays is wild. Keeping history alive through remixes can help cultures and traditions transcend generations.

Papa Wemba, Fela Kuti, Hugh Masekela, and Salif Keita are a few artists who come to mind when speaking about the early global impact of African music. Many people were not born when they were active, so they might discover them through hearing a great remix. That can create a ripple effect and make them want to learn more.

As African-influenced electronic music reaches bigger stages and new audiences, what question should the global dance music community be asking itself right now?

Who is representing this music on bigger stages, and why? Are they authentic to what African electronic music stands for, or are they simply popular at the moment and likely to sell tickets? What is being done to ensure everyone who plays a role in the sound’s growth benefits fairly?

There is still more work to do when it comes to representation on major stages. Women, people of color and queer artists with proven track records are still being overlooked by promoters. How can the global dance community make better representation standard practice rather than a campaign? Could there also be more charitable initiatives, such as music schools, that give back to under-resourced communities contributing to electronic music?

What is one thing the dance music community can do to help build a truly global culture that makes space for different sounds, identities and communities?

This might sound strange, but key decision-makers in the dance music community need to stop making decisions based on short-form online clips. They need to get their feet back on the ground and spend time in communities and underground spaces themselves.

As AI takes up more space, high streaming numbers or follower counts do not equate to authentic dance music culture. Making decisions based on what looks cool online, rather than what people are musically connected to and moved by, takes us further away from what built dance music culture in the first place.

Catch Kitty Amor during “The Global Language of Dance Music” at Beatport Connect LA on September 25 at W Hollywood. 
 

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