Afro Monk

Since first falling in love with electronic music in 2008, I have never underestimated the importance of having extremely trustworthy music sources. There is an insane amount of music out there, some great, some terrible, and unless you’re ready and willing to spend hours searching through the depths of Soundcloud to find two, maybe three, new artists you genuinely like, then you’re left with what I have figured out to be the best options: blogs(but you’re on Afro Monk right now, so I’m assuming you’ve already got this one down ) and following labels. It’s not true for every record label, but many often focus around a genre or style. To find a record label you really love is like finding a key. They are doing the dirty work for you, sifting through hundreds of promos and hours of research to find artists that are going to represent the label and their sound. There are many labels I love and follow devoutly, but my favorite is Rwina Records.

Rwina Records is an Amsterdam based collective, specializing in innovative, underground bass music, heavy in science fiction and gritty futuristic influences and not afraid to push the boundaries. Rwina means “never ending chaos” in Moroccan, and the label stays true to the title with every release. Their international array of releases is impressive and consists of some of the best in underground bass music including Eprom, NastyNasty, Starkey, Doshy, and Krampfhaft.

Although I own and love so many of Rwina’s releases, I’ve never know much about the man behind it all, Akkachar a.k.a Akka. What I definitely did not know, was that a release by him and label mate, Taz was going to become one of my favorite pieces put out by the label ever. After a series of collaborative works spanning over three years, the two recently graced us with a mini mix of their upcoming spring release, Synergy. The mix is a futuristic hip hop hybrid, blending old school video game vibes with lush and dreamy like synths, producing perfect dance floor bangers for humans and cyborgs alike. Each track is unique and brilliant within itself,  but as a group, works together effortlessly. I absolutely love it and am ecstatic for the official release of the EP on April 1st.

Love and Low Frequencies,
Molly