Some club records borrow from a tradition. This one got the tradition in the room. “Hombre Malo” is out now on Deep Root Tribe, and it puts AFROJACK and Gregor Salto‘s Afro House project AfroSalto next to Colombian duo Flagrant Drvms and Cartagena vocalist La Negra Hawkins. The order matters here. It started between the Colombian artists, and AFROJACK and Salto came in after, which is why the whole thing sounds built instead of borrowed.
The engine is organic percussion and gaita, the reed flute that runs through cumbia and vallenato all along Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Gaitas are traditionally played in pairs, one carrying the melody and improvising, one holding the harmony underneath, and that call-and-response is exactly what gives the track its hypnotic pull once the club rhythm settles in around it. La Negra Hawkins sings the story of a woman looking for a good, honest man, and she delivers it with enough authority to keep the record from ever feeling like a novelty. It feels warm, unhurried, and just a little haunted.
It is also AFROJACK’s first release on Francis Mercier‘s Deep Root Records, landing on Deep Root Tribe, the Afro House imprint Mercier launched to push exactly this kind of record. The two have been sharing stages all year, Zamna Tulum and Mercier’s Soley night at Hi Ibiza among them, so the label link reads like the obvious next move rather than a one-off favor. Hugel, Keinemusik, and Rampa have all been filmed playing it out already.
AFROJACK has been genuinely hard to pin down lately. Club records on Hot Creations and Black Book, a Kapuchon single that went to number one on Beatport’s melodic house and techno chart, two weekends at Tomorrowland, and now a Colombian folk record on an Afro House imprint. His CONTROL North American run starts in October 2026, and on this evidence there is no telling which version of him walks out.
AFROJACK CONTROL 2026 Tour Dates – Tickets
Oct 3 – Montreal, QC – New City Gas
Oct 9 – Chicago, IL – Radius Chicago
Oct 10 – Washington, DC – Echostage
Oct 16 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
Oct 17 – Phoenix, AZ – Warehouse 215
Nov 20 – Houston, TX – DUCTWORK
Nov 21 – Dallas, TX – The Silo In Deep Ellum
Nov 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Shrine Expo Hall
Nov 28 – Seattle, WA – Level 1
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