The group pooled their student bursaries to bring up giants like Skepta, Tinie Tempah, and Ghetts. But the most important booking was Sef Kombo, whose night TilTwo was building an Afro house hub in London. “I knew of Sef being the only person that really understood the music I like,” Amor says, though the nerves kicked in when she discovered her set was scheduled straight after his. Even worse, rather than clearing off at the end of his slot, Kombo chose to stay and watch her work. Amor kept her eyes on the decks. “Though the masses mattered to me, the approval of Sef is what mattered the most,” she says. Despite her trepidation, something clicked. Kombo booked her for TilTwo, where she has since graduated to headliner.
Amor returned to London after university, where she launched Motherland in Hackney’s club Grow, which she co-promoted first with Jonny Miller and D-Malice and later with Kombo. “Motherland was meant to be a one-off Afro house party, but the amount of people that turned up, we were like, we need to do this more frequently,” she says. In 2019, she created Motherland’s sister event Sessions, which drew in international Afro house artists like Da Capo and DJEFF. “Motherland is one party that everyone has really found a home with. When they think of Afro house, everyone speaks of Grow Hackney and Motherland.”
A small, committed scene was brewing, though it took a while for Afro house to gain a foothold in the city. “I used to judge it every time Black Coffee came to London,” says Amor. “It sold out. It was a no-brainer. I was like, I don’t think these people know, whether he’s here or not, that this music still exists in London.” Amor and Kombo stepped up their promotion every time the South African DJ was in town, hoping to bestow his magic touch upon London’s parties. “We’re getting there,” says Amor. “People are not waiting for Black Coffee to come before they hear Afro house. They’re trusting in someone like Kitty Amor to be their Black Coffee.”
