Sofiya Nazu’s ‘Hutia’ Redefines a 90s Trance Classic into an Afro-House Banger

Sofiya Nzau, the Kenyan singer-songwriter born in 1993, links up with Dutch producer Madism on ‘Hutia‘, their afro house spin on Robert Miles‘ 1995 instrumental ‘Children‘, which landed on October 3, 2025, via Warner Music Central Europe. That original fused piano introspection with club propulsion to top charts in more than a dozen countries, kickstarting dream trance’s hold on electronic crowds. Nzau broke out in 2023 on Zerb‘s ‘Mwaki‘, her Kikuyu delivery over house builds drawing massive streams and marking her as a voice from Kenya’s biggest ethnic group. She hit a milestone in May 2024 as the first East African artist to reach 10 million monthly Spotify listeners, and this July became the first Kenyan to take the Tomorrowland stage, blending her phrasing with EDM’s high-stakes energy. Madism, whose breakout “Crazy” went triple platinum in the UK and charted widely, has racked up over a billion Spotify plays with remixes for Lewis Capaldi, James Arthur, Dermot Kennedy, and Sam Smith—work that sharpens pop edges into dance tools.

Madism threads ‘Children‘s piano line through an afro house frame here, with percussive loops that echo the genre’s South African roots in kwaito and deep house. Nzau layers in Kikuyu verses on desire’s disorienting rush—how a simple touch upends the world—in the hook “Tondu wahutia wahutia … Ukangorokia,” her timbre riding the build like a natural extension of the rhythm. Synth undercurrents preserve the track’s open-air feel, but the vocal push and tribal drum hits shift it toward something that thrives in packed shoulder to shoulder venues. The blend is something we need more of in the Afro-house scene.

Afro house has long borrowed from trance’s melodic hooks, the same ones that fed into Tiësto and Paul van Dyk‘s sets back in the day, and ‘Hutia‘ slots right into that lineage with a grounded twist. Nzau‘s language adds specificity to Miles‘ wordless blueprint, making the whole thing a case study in how electronic staples can adapt across borders without fading. It’s streaming now, a solid pick for sets that mix throwbacks with the fresh pulse of today’s scene.

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