Wearing a black turtle neck sweater with his dreadlocks tied back, Larizzle exudes poise and quiet confidence as he talks to Mixcloud. He answers questions with consideration and it becomes clear that he’s been dedicated to creativity for a long time.
The London born-DJ, producer, label head and radio host’s journey with music goes back to his youth, charged by his time in university where he picked up DJing and would mark himself out as a hard working and consistent spinner. A child of African electronic music, Larizzle’s dedication to the music scenes of Afrohouse, Gqom and beyond has manifested in performances throughout Africa, Europe and South America. Not to mention his popular Piano House parties held at Soho House where he showcases the present and future stars of Amapiano.
As a DJ, Larizzle saw the onset of its popularity early on, immersing himself in the early UK Afrobeats scene of the 2010s, before finding a permanent home promoting newer sounds. Now, a new chapter awaits: his own original music, and he’s not taking it lightly.
When we speak to him, Larizzle is fresh home after a visit to Uganda, where he played his first DJ gig in the country, available to stream on Mixcloud. We dug into his story, involving working the club circuit in London, his new music and why African electronic music is here to stay.
Welcome back from Uganda! How was the trip and your debut set over there?
Larizzle: Amazing. We try to go every year because my wife’s family are from Uganda and she also has a charity she founded for children over there. I always go and support her with that which is really nice, really wholesome. This time round I also had some interviews and my first set out there which was better than expected. It was on a Monday night and the energy was wild. You wouldn’t expect a Monday night in January to be popping but it was a really good set overall. It just reminds me how much I love African people.
Where does your story as a DJ begin?
The journey’s been a relatively long one. I’ve always been into music growing up and performing. I used to see myself as a bit of a singer and dancer and started DJing at university. During freshers week, I stumbled across these DJs when I went to our first African-Caribbean Society (ACS) event. They were really doing their thing and that was the first experience I had of seeing live DJs at work and I was instantly hooked. In school I didn’t really go out to clubs or anything like that. So when I saw these DJs, I was like, ‘this is another way I can express myself musically.’ I connected with them and would go into their room because they had turntables. I’d go in and practice in between lectures as much as I could.
My first ever DJ set was at the university in the student union. At that time it was a lot of R&B, Hip-Hop, Grime, Bashment was really big, UK Funky. Then shortly after that I delved more into the African music side of things.
What attracted you to DJing?
It was the freedom to entertain by playing other people’s music that you enjoyed listening to. I loved the energy that DJing gave me as an observer as well as behind the decks. It helped create the community feel within the ACS as well. That society in general was a big factor because you’re meeting different cultures from the African continent and the diaspora and Caribbeans as well. I felt like all of that combined to really draw me into the art and craft.
So how did your career progress after university?
I really had my eyes set on DJing in London’s West End. So I remember trying to find club pages on Facebook, inboxing them, finding their email addresses. Then by chance, the main one I really wanted got back to me, Club Metro. That was my first proper period of DJing outside the university circuit and they were really impressed. I was networking with other promoters and then the bookings just started happening. Eventually I was able to go to Ayia Napa and do my first sets there and do residencies.
When did you start to incorporate African sounds into your sets?
Partly in uni. That’s when I knew that it started being cool to play African music within our community. For us people of color in the clubbing scene back then, it was cooler to be Jamaican than African. So Bashment was cool, R&B, Hip-Hop of course. But within the ACS community sounds like Afrobeats, Hiplife and Highlife weren’t so much. Then Afrobeats started bubbling in Nigeria with artists like Wizkid and Davido emerging. Ghana was doing its thing with the song ‘Azonto’ and artists like Fuse ODG. DJs were now playing a lot more of this and a community of our own started bubbling up.
You’re very much an ambassador for African electronic music. What initially drew you to sounds like Amapiano, Afrohouse, 3-Step and Gqom?
It was when I stumbled across a track by Black Coffee and Bucie called ‘Turn Me On’ and a lot of the DJs at the time were incorporating it into their UK Funky sets because it was essentially soulful House. But I didn’t realize until I started delving deeper that it was actually Afrohouse. I’d never heard of Black Coffee until then and I started digging and digging. The more music I heard, the more I realized a lot of them weren’t speaking in English for all of the songs by the likes of Professor Oskido who were speaking Zulu. I was instantly hooked. Then I found there were other subgenres at the time like Kwaito and then later on, Gqom emerged and then Amapiano and 3-Step. So it was just a natural progression from there. I’ve always been into Electronic music but it definitely ramped up during this period.
Sounds like Afrobeats and Amapiano have been making a big splash around the world over the last couple of years. Why do you think that is?
A number of reasons really. First, there’s a lot of talented artists on the continent and two there’s now more methods for them to be exposed. Mainly social media and the likes of TikTok has really helped in allowing those sounds and movements to spread and be seen by the world. Record labels have launched bases in Africa and that’s really helped. The streaming platforms of course like Mixcloud have also really helped bring the various African movements and cultures to the world.
How do you engage with communities in those music scenes?
I set up a record label called Larah Records where we’ve been releasing music as well as managing talent. My wife and I run the label and we’re always on the lookout for emerging artists that we can try and help support. One of these was Rosie Gold, who’s a London-based South African artist. As we’ve supported her, she’s also helped us plant our feet firmly on the ground. We also currently manage two acts, Sweetie Ivy and Haruna. They both play African electronic music.
In addition to that we do Piano House parties in collaboration with Soho House. We’ve been running it for nearly three years now. That’s obviously allowed us to introduce Amapiano to new markets within the creative scene around the world.
What do you think lies in the immediate future of African electronic music? Will we see new sounds emerge?
I think it will lead to new sounds just based on the past decade or so with the number of new subgenres that have emerged. It’s more than I’ve known from any other genre from the continent just because of how rapidly everything exploded on TikTok for Amapiano, especially over lockdown. Now that we have Bacardi and 3-Step and Amapiano is here to stay, the sky’s the limit. There’s so many producers from South Africa and beyond and producers like myself that are heavily inspired by Amapiano. Now Afrohouse has exploded again and Europeans are taking it to another level and artists like Drake are jumping on it as well. I think it’s only going to get better.
What’s the story behind Bacardi music?
It’s similar to Amapiano in terms of tempo. But less of the heavy percussive baseline. Bit more danceable, not as loungey as some of the chilled Amapiano stuff – watch out for it!
You’ve made yourself known on radio too, what kind of musical freedom does that give you?
Radio just allows you to really express yourself and play music from all sides of the African electronic scene. I really try to educate the listeners and hopefully that translates and gets them on board. If it’s someone new listening, hopefully they like it and they want to learn more. Just like when I stumbled across Black Coffee and Butie. I wanted to delve deeper and listen to more music and I try to convey the same feeling to whoever’s listening to my shows.
What are some of your favorite tracks to play when you’re playing out?
In terms of newer music, I’d say Khalil Harrison’s ‘Jealousy’ is a big one. I also like to educate during my sets and play songs that people may not necessarily know. Then squeeze in a couple of my own tracks if I can. I play my latest releases quite a lot, like ‘Native Land’ with BeeSoul and Lani Tee, both from South Africa, two really promising producers. A classic one I always go back to is by Uhuru called ‘Corner,’ which is a classic Afrohouse song and one of my faves. That finds its way into most of my house sets!
How do you get yourself ready for a mix or event?
I like to try and get to the venue at least an hour before so I can hear the DJ before. Try and be amongst the crowd to feed off their energy and see how they’re moving to the music. It just gives me an indication of how much energy I need to bring to either maintain or to bring up the levels.
“Discovering Black Coffee changed everything – I was instantly hooked on Afrohouse!”
You have an immense profile on Mixcloud! What role has the platform played in your journey?
It’s played a big part from almost the beginning. I’ve always been into doing mixes no matter the genre and Mixcloud was the first platform that would allow all my mixes to be in one place and not have any copyright infringements or any takedowns. So it’s played a massive part in allowing me to connect with people from all over the world that I wouldn’t necessarily have had the chance to. It’s been an invaluable platform over the years, for sure.
What are some of the biggest wins of your career so far?
One is playing at the Afro Nation festival for the first time in Portugal to around 10,000 people on the Piano People stage which is really super dope. I had the pleasure of performing alongside and for the late great Virgil Abloh when he was in London with his Nike and Off-White collaboration event. Making an official remix for Kool & The Gang. Collaborating with George Brown who was one of the founding members before he sadly passed away. So, it was a bit of a bittersweet moment for me but a moment I won’t forget. More recently, I hosted the very first Amapiano showcase inside a theater in Colombia last August. I also had a writing camp in Bogota and collaborated with some local Colombian artists as well which was incredible.
You’re gearing up to release your debut EP, after years of putting out remixes and edits. What does this new phase mean to you?
It represents my dreams coming true. I didn’t ever think I could create my own body of work when I started DJing. But being able to produce my own music and releasing it was one of my wildest dreams. We thank God that we’re able to start to bring this to life and we’ve got some really exciting potential collaborations on this EP as well. I’m aiming for an October release and some summer singles in the lead up. I’m hoping and praying all the writing camps I’ve got scheduled go well and I can really create a world with the artists I’m working with. Hopefully I can really put out music that I’m proud of, that the world will receive, get behind and support.
What are some of your dream collaborations when it comes to music making?
I’d love to work with Pharrell or The Neptunes although I know they’re not together anymore. Timberland and Black Coffee!
Follow Larizzle on Mixcloud.