The Soundtrack to My Life

For as long as I can remember, music and style have gone hand in hand for me. Growing up, I was deep in streetwear culture; sneakers, graphic tees, and the kind of confidence that came from expressing yourself without having to say a word. And just like streetwear, my soundtrack was built around rap and hip-hop, the genres that shaped how I saw the world.

Back then, artists like Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky were everything to me. They weren’t just musicians, they were creators who blurred the lines between fashion, sound, and identity. Travis brought an energy that made every track feel like an experience, and Rocky turned style into an extension of music itself. He made it clear that fashion and hip-hop didn’t just coexist, they influenced each other. Albums like Testing and Long.Live.A$AP were soundtracks to the world I was growing up in, experimental, confident, and unapologetically individual. Those sounds became the heartbeat of my early years: ambition, creativity, and self-expression.

But as I got older, my taste started to shift. I found myself less focused on lyrics about success or struggle and more drawn to sound itself, rhythm, texture, movement. That’s when I discovered house music. At first, it was about the energy, long nights, lights, and beats that never stopped evolving. It was something I could feel without needing to understand. The more I listened, the more I appreciated how universal it was. No language barriers, no overthinking, just sound that made people move in sync.

Eventually, though, I realized something was missing. I missed lyrics, not just the words, but the emotion and humanity behind them. That’s when I stumbled into Afro-house, and I’ve never looked back.

Afro-house felt like everything I’d been searching for, the perfect blend of rhythm, depth, and soul. It has the pulse of house music, but with more warmth and meaning. The drums feel alive, the vocals have weight, and every track carries a kind of spirituality that’s hard to explain. It’s music that connects you to something bigger, something that doesn’t need translation.

Artists like Keinemusik, Francis Mercier, Nitefreak, and Maz have completely shaped how I listen now. Each one brings their own element: Keinemusik with their hypnotic, minimal grooves; Nitefreak and Maz with those deep, layered African rhythms; and Francis Mercier, whose sound is both global and personal. Seeing him perform in front of the Pyramids of Giza was one of the most surreal moments of my life. The fusion of ancient history, culture, and modern sound was unreal, like time stood still for a few hours. That night reminded me how powerful music can be when it bridges generations, genres, and geography.

If rap gave me my voice and house gave me my rhythm, Afro-house gave me my soul. It’s the soundtrack to where I’ve been, and where I’m going next.