When Chinois Ibiza launched in summer 2022, its weekly line-up was almost exclusively Afro House. Although those early days were a learning curve, looking back, it could be argued they were just a little bit premature about throwing their weight behind the movement.
Four years later, Afro House has never been so huge. Not only here on the island, but globally. One of the scene's biggest protagonists is Chinois' new Friday night resident Shimza.
While Chinois' roster is a lot more diverse today, it's testament to its current level of popularity, that Afro House has found its way back to the intimate club in affluent Ibiza Marina.
On Shimza & Co.'s second edition of a short, peak-summer four week run, we went to met the host and discuss the genre's present and future.
Shimza: Chinois's new Friday night resident goes on the record
You've played many dates at different venues in Ibiza for the summer. Is Ibiza a destination that's on the radar for many South Africans?
"Yeah, man, lots. I think the more we come into the island, we'll be sure what the island is all about.
We educate a lot of people where we come from and they get a lot of excitement and want to come here. We have a lot of guys that are even now starting to travel here to sort of experience us in this setting because it looks different to what we know in these two homes.
So, yeah, we’re getting there…"
What do you think has been the biggest driver of Afro House's recent emergence as one of dance music's most popular genres?
"I think it's the different interpretations of the sound. You know, the sound came in, from South Africa, but a lot of other people from different parts of the world took that sound and they sort of gave it their understanding. It helped get the sound into different spaces, you know.
That, for me, was a plus for the sound, because you have different advocates that are pushing this whole thing together. It can only help the sound grow bigger.
If we just want to keep it to ourselves and say, 'Ah, this is the South African sound, this is how it used to sound,' then it's never going to grow.
It's going to then depend on a certain group of people who are innovating. But if you have different people making different variations of the sound, it helps it grow, because they get it into other spaces."
You are doing a four-day mini-residency at Chinois Ibiza. What was appealing about doing this length?
"For me, it was more about come in, high-impact, make it look good, and then use that impact to help grow something big. And starting from last week. I think it went very well.
People are yearning for a real Afro House party on the island.
We're not trying to be the most Afro House party on the island, but the combination of what we are doing and bringing it into other people's spaces. Like today, we had Tripolism coming through, we have Dennis Ferrer on the line-up in two weeks.
We're just trying to bring people for the sound that they know me for, but also get an audience from the other artists to come in to experience the sound. The tools merge and it grows the sound. It doesn't just give it a specific look, it broadens the way it looks."
Who are the rising stars of Afro House, who we should be looking out for?
"It's a lot of people, you know?
From South Africa, you have the likes of Bun Xapa, Caiiro, Enoo Napa, and Da Capo, who are all doing very well. You have the likes of Sona. Darque is doing very well, putting out some great music, and Zakes Bantwini (pictured with Shimza above, right), who is someone that has been in the industry for a long time, making some great music.
There's female talent as well . You have the likes of Stofella, Mila Rose, who we have on the line-up as well. We have Desiree too. So, there are a lot of people that are actually coming from South Africa.
Outside of South Africa, people that are pushing the sound in different parts. What Francis Mercier is doing, what Alex Wann is doing, what MoBlack is doing as both a DJ and a record label. It's just a combination of different energies coming from different sides.
I think this will just help the sound grow and put it into the mainstream. As much as we put out the music out there, we're not the consumers, we're just the people that feed the market, and we're in a position where the market is really listening to us."
"I have a song with Kasango and AR/CO, called Fire Fire, which is doing quite well.
It's topping charts in Germany and all these places where we wouldn't ordinarily have our music played. So, you can see that there's a shift in focus and an energy that comes with the sound that people are gravitating towards.
We can only feed it by producing more music, doing more parties and collaborating with a lot more people."
Will we be seeing more of you on Ibiza in 2026?
"Yeah, I'm trying to do as much as I can. I'm trying to get back here and do more parties.
Maybe even extend this residency for a couple of weeks. But it's baby steps. We don't know where this step will take us. We don't know how big it will grow. But we want to be there to always feed the thing that we want to grow.
It's not just a one-man show, but it's a combination of different things.
What Keinemusik is doing also benefits us. What Black Coffee is doing benefits us as well. What Francis Mercier is doing with the sound, benefits everyone. So we're just trying to do our small things to sort of feed into this... I wanna call it a movement.
People are loving what it's all about, and bit by bit we’re going to grow it."
Shimza & Co. continues this weekend, entering the second half of its run with Andrea Oliva, &Friends and Stofella joining him on the line-up. The residency conclude a week later, with guest appearances from Dennis Ferrer, Antdot and Mila Rose.
You can find tickets and full line-ups to 22 and 29 August below.
Make sure you check-out the Chinois Standard tickets, which give attendees their first three drinks on arrival when entering before 01:00. They might be Ibiza's best value ticket.
