93 Million Miles

Following the dancehall swordplay of first single Blen and the genre-straddling Hi- Techerous EP, Africa HiTech release their debut album, 93 Million Miles, on May 9th. 93 Million Miles is an unflinchingly ambitious product of international globe-trotting that carves a new faultline into the rapidly expanding terrain of “bass music”…or whatever it’s being called this week. The first point of introduction for many will be the Ini Kamoze-sampling behemoth Out In The Streets, a combination of the ghosts of 1980s Jamaica and the youth-culture explosion of juke, and a track immediately championed by Flying Lotus, Untold, Toddla T, Benji B, Scratcha DVA and played recently as Gilles Peterson’s first audio punch when battling Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1. The track is now available digitally on Bleep.com and other select digital services. Africa HiTech are Mark Pritchard (of Harmonic 313/Global Communications/countless more psuedonyms fame) and Steve Spacek (of Spacek fame and notable Dilla collaborator). They began bonding over their shared passion for the seemingly disparate spheres of bubbling Detroit techno, soul and fierce Jamaican digital dancehall. It was when they both, by pure coincidence, found themselves living in Australia that the connection was cemented. Africa HiTech is the moniker which represents both Steve and Mark’s love for all things progressive within music, whilst acknowledging that the roots of much of today’s popular music can be traced directly back to Africa.