Sise Ntweni Q&A with Hagan
Hagan
Producer and DJ Hagan has released Sise Ntweni ft Aymos. The London-born artist of Ghanaian heritage has been making waves over the last few years with his very own interpretation of Garage, UK Funky, Highlife, Gospel and House music that amalgamate to form his sound today.
Hagan has linked up with South African singer-songwriter Aymos, best known for his atmospheric vocals in hit and pioneering single Ecimbini which features a whole host of South African talent, including Mas Musiq, Samthing Soweto, DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small. In anticipation of an upcoming album in September, Hagan has released Sise Ntweni that brings with it an element of South African flavour to Hagan’s repertoire. Hagan operates within the sphere enveloped by intoxicating baselines, spellbinding reverb and complex drum patterns that get your feet moving. There is no surprise, albeit at least to us, that Hagan is now collaborating with a South African of which this type of groove is second nature.
The Ubunifu Space caught up with Hagan, who gave us the low down on his link up with Aymos for Sise Ntweni, and what potentially beckons moving forward.
What is the meaning of Sise Ntweni and why is it important to this single?
From collaborating with Aymos and getting a breakdown of the lyrics, Sise Ntweni means ‘we are in something’. Essentially the context surrounding the track is about how it’s so good to have a strong network of individuals you can pull into for support. When we apply that from a musical point of view I see it as, it’s so good to tap into your musical network so that great music collaborations can be made. The power of collaboration and tapping into your network is one of the themes I’ve been exploring a lot this year.
Why did you, at this point in your career, want to work with Aymos?
Since discovering Aymos’ music, I felt sonically that he would be an artist who could translate my vision of delivering that cultural exchange through music. Also there’s a spiritual resonating presence his voice carries. The cadence, rhythm, pace and Zulu language, matched with my production style, felt like an opportunity to create something special and I believe we achieved that.
How did your connection with Aymos come about?
It was through Shiba, a journalist I know based in South Africa. She has written for various music publications and was instrumental to making this single come to light. At the time she was managing Aymos so I reached out to her with the idea and overall objective which was to create a project with collaborations from artists across Africa and the diaspora. Big shout out to Shiba for connecting the two of us together and making this happen!
What feeling in listeners do you wish to emanate with this track?
The first thing is providing people with the urgency to dance. This is a club ready and bass heavy track with groove and vocal sauce. So naturally, I want anyone who listens to feel the groove, and the emotive lyrics regardless of if you understand Zulu or not as music is universal. Secondly, this is a feel-good sound. There’s a sense of warmth the track has once the bass hits your chest.
Sise Ntweni seems to combine the spiritual and soulful with dance – it leaves the listener in a trance of dance. Would you agree?
Absolutely! I guess this supports my comments earlier of marrying the two sound influences we both have. I’ve been brought up listening to Highlife which, in a way, can provide spiritual-like sonics. The reason I thought of adding that saxophone you hear across the arrangement was to add musical depth and that trance feeling you mentioned. Additionally Aymos offers that soulful and transcendent vocal tone. What makes this quite interesting is the fact that we both come from the dance scene, creating tracks with similar grooves but from different countries. So when combined together like this, I firmly believe that’s how these types of collaborations help to keep club music innovative and sounding fresh. I'm happy with the result we’ve produced on this single.
Sise Ntweni has elements of funky house in it, a unique era in the UK. We’re headed towards a more dance orientated scene at the moment, with Amapiano being the catalyst. Does this track, in your mind, marry the two scenes?
Someone else mentioned this regarding UK Funky and to be honest, that wasn’t my first intention. My aim going into the production stages was to take elements of Amapiano, in this case the Log Drum bass, pair it with a grittier bass line perhaps heard in UK underground / club tracks, and program the drums to have a deeper Afro House / tribal groove and swing to it. However, being that part of my musical influence is from the UK Funky scene, it must be something I’m doing without noticing!
Are you one to define your sound, or are you more inclined to experiment where you see fit?
I’d say a bit of both. Over the years I’ve been able to refine the sound but keep the core foundations present. When I first started producing, most of my tracks were within the range of 122bpm - 130bpm. That has now expanded to 100bpm - 140bpm and the feedback received when exploring these tempos is that my groove is still identifiable. When it comes to sound selection, that’s also been refined and risks have been taken. On Sise Ntweni, you’ll notice the Saxophone parts. Going into 2022, I set myself a challenge to find pockets where I could incorporate live instrumentation with electronic music. The live instrumentation has added to the different textures and feels.
Do you have any long term goals associated with this single?
Long term goal is to find ways to maximise the track’s potential international reach; whether that is through creating some engaging pieces of content for the socials or connecting with international DJs to spread the sound. I have one community led idea which the label, Python Syndicate, and I are looking to explore which involves releasing the stems and allowing producers to create remixes. I think it would be quite an interesting result!
What can we expect from your album due to drop in September?
Lots of well-thought and dream collaborations that have truly elevated the sound, music for the clubs but also music for calmer settings, feel-good sounds and some crisp visual content. Essentially, expect to hear what I always aim to deliver: Hagan sounds, a fusion of musical influences and straight percussive energy.
Sise Ntweni album artwork