Thakzin Announces ‘Common Ground’ Album With Collaborative New Single ‘Maphorisa’
South African producer and 3Step pioneer Thakzin has announced his forthcoming album ‘Common Ground’, introducing the eight-track project with ‘Maphorisa’, an ambitious collaborative single released on 23rd October through Sondela Recordings.
The track brings together Mpho.WAV, Atmos Blaq, Tete, Ozana, Kisto, Moonchild Sanelly, Baby S.O.N, Suffocate SA and Citizen Deep, marking the largest collective recording of Thakzin’s career to date. Developed during God’s Window pt 1, the collaboration draws on different musical backgrounds across 3Step, Afro House, Afro Tech and the wider African electronic music landscape.
Rather than attempting to unify those influences into a single established sound, ‘Maphorisa’ celebrates their differences. The production is built around the interaction between individual musical identities, allowing contrasting voices, rhythms and creative approaches to contribute to a shared expression of movement and connection.
That collaborative philosophy forms the foundation of ‘Common Ground’, which arrives on 13th November. Across eight tracks, Thakzin explores the meeting points between musical styles, cultural identities and creative communities, presenting the idea that meaningful connection does not depend on uniformity.
For an artist closely associated with the development of 3Step, the project represents an opportunity to explore the genre’s relationship with neighbouring African electronic styles. Thakzin’s approach has consistently drawn on the rhythmic possibilities of South African dance music, and the forthcoming album places those influences within a broader conversation about collaboration and cultural exchange.
‘Maphorisa’ offers the first indication of that direction, bringing an extensive group of artists into the same creative space while allowing their individual contributions to remain central to the recording. Its underlying message is straightforward: music can create common ground between people whose experiences, perspectives and artistic identities differ.
With the album scheduled for November, the single establishes the collaborative spirit at the heart of Thakzin’s next project.
