What 3-Step is
It borrows amapiano's bass and log drums, Afro house's percussion and deep house chords, and some of gqom's darkness, often with horns, shakers and vocals in several languages. The missing fourth kick gives it a forward-leaning, broken feel. Its lead producer, Thakzin, says it is less a fixed sub-genre than a way of working.[1][2][3]
3-Step, also written 3 Step, three-step, Afro Funk (Tete's first name for it).
Tempo
113 to 120 BPM[3]. The NATIVE (January 2026) says the sound 'typically falls within the 113-120 BPM range'. Neither Mixmag feature gives a figure.
Where it comes from
South Africa, with Johannesburg named as its root by The NATIVE · About 2020 to 2023: Thakzin's 'The Magnificent Dance' (about a year after lockdown, so roughly 2021) and Tete's album 'Bra God' (early 2023, produced by Thakzin) are cited as the start[2][3][4]
The name has two lives. In Durban gqom, 'three-step' described a broken beat pattern from the mid-2010s (Citizen Boy in 2016: gqom 'can be a three-step or two-step beat'; Wikipedia credits Sbucardo and Citizen Boy with the term). The 2020s 3-Step is the Afro house movement led by Thakzin; Tete has said he first called it 'Afro Funk' and joked that '3-Step' fitted better.
- Thakzin (Thabang Mathebula)
credited with shaping and naming the movement; 'The Magnificent Dance', 'Possessed' (2023), 'Horns In The Sun'[2][3]
- Tete (Tebogo Makela)
singer on 'Bra God' (2023), which Mixmag calls the earliest embodiment of the style[2]
- Atmos Blaq
'Venus' remix (2019), 'Kwa Mama'[3]
- Dlala Thukzin
'iPlan', 'Ama Gear', 'Isaka (6am)'; a different artist from Thakzin[1][3]
- Heavy K and Prince Kaybee
both claimed a role in inventing it in an August 2025 dispute; Prince Kaybee's 'Ebabayo' (2021)[3]
Where the sources disagree
Who invented it. Mixmag and The NATIVE (Jan 2026) credit Thakzin; Heavy K and Prince Kaybee disputed this in August 2025; The NATIVE (July 2025) credits 'Dlala Thakzin' with creating it in 2020 and conflates Thakzin with Dlala Thukzin, who are two different artists.[1][2][3]
Same name, two sounds. Durban gqom producers used 'three-step' for a broken gqom beat in the mid-2010s; the 2020s 3-Step is an Afro house movement. Our data tags DJ Lag and Durban with 3-step, which may refer to either.[4][5]
Who carried it
- Sondelalabel
released Thakzin's 'Chemistry' EP[2]
- Djoonlabel
released Thakzin's 'Jungle Fever'[2]
- Deep In The City (Johannesburg)party
Black Coffee handed the baton to Thakzin there in 2024[2]
- Group Therapy (Lagos)rave
founded by Aniko; 2025 headliners included Dlala Thukzin, Atmos Blaq and Prince Kaybee[2][3]
- Monochroma (Lagos)rave
founded 2024 by Blak Dave and Proton; Thakzin headlined February 2025[3]
- Transit Live and Oroko Radio (Accra)party and radio
Araba Ofori-Acquah's series and residency[2]
- The Lab (Addis Ababa)party
DJ Benaiah's 3-Step set at its tenth edition, 2025[6]
Moments
- 2023'Bra God', 'Horns In The Sun' and 'iPlan' make 3-Step rival amapiano over the South African festive season[2]
- 2024Thakzin and Dlala Thukzin's 'Dali'; Mixmag calls 3-Step the sound of the summer. First 3-Step remixes of Afropop hits appear in Lagos[2][3]
- 2025-02Thakzin headlines Monochroma, Lagos[3]
- 2025Blak Dave's EP 'The Third Step', described as the first 3-Step project by a Nigerian DJ; 'Isaka (6am)' tops Spotify's Viral chart in Nigeria[1][3]
- 2025-10-23Mixmag opens a three-part series calling 3-Step the defining sound of two Southern African summers[2]
The rooms it was made for
- Lagos raves
Group Therapy, Monochroma and Blak Dave and Friends put 3-Step headliners at the top of big rave line-ups; Blak Dave says the 'omitted fourth kick' leaves space for Nigerian melodies.[3]
- Johannesburg festival and party circuit
Deep In The City; summer festive-season dancefloors where tracks 'moved crowds in the tens of thousands'.[2]
- Outdoor festival stages in East Africa
Santuri's house stage at Blankets & Wine (Nairobi); Gondwana festival.[6]
Cities on Pulse
Cities whose signature sound or style tags include 3-Step. The number is each city's own pulse tempo.
Artists on Pulse
6 artists and collectives tagged 3-Step in our data, busiest cities first.
KwaMashu gqom: Omunye, Wololo, Voices of Gqom
Lamontville gqom blended with amapiano and Afro-tech
Gqom and 3-step back to back at Boiler Room Durban
Questions about 3-Step
What is 3-Step music?
A South African strand of Afro house from the early 2020s that drops the fourth kick of the bar, mixing amapiano bass and log drums with Afro house percussion and deep house chords.[1][2][3]
Who created 3-Step?
Thakzin (Thabang Mathebula) is widely credited with shaping and naming it, with Tete's 'Bra God' (2023) as an early landmark, but Heavy K and Prince Kaybee have both claimed a part and The NATIVE calls the origin contested.[2][3]
What BPM is 3-Step?
Typically 113 to 120 BPM.[3]
Sources
Last checked 16 October 2026 · Send a correction or a tip
- 1A primer on 3-Step's rise to prominenceThe NATIVE · 2025-07-21
- 23-Step: why Afro house's latest evolution is more than a sound, it's a movementMixmag · 2025-10-23
- 3How 3-Step became the definitive sound of the momentThe NATIVE · 2026-01-22
- 4Gqom: a deeper look at South Africa's new generation of houseFACT · 2016-01-05
- 5Gqom (Wikipedia, lead only)Wikipedia · accessed 2026-10-16
- 6How 3-Step is unifying Afro house artists in AfricaMixmag · 2025-11-20
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