Who would have thought that mixing pop songs and House music would be such a sweet recipe for sonical intoxication? Well, perhaps history already gave us the answer.
House music, born from Chicago’s club culture in the early 1980s, has spent decades creeping into mainstream pop, with the crossover becoming especially prominent by the late ’80s and ’90s through dance remixes and pop records built around House’s hypnotic pulse.
Across Africa, the relationship has taken on its own life. South Africa’s long-running House culture has spawned Kwaito, Afro-House and, more recently, Amapiano, itself drawing its drums and tempo partly from House music.
It makes sense, then, that DJ Timi would reach for that formula on his new Cast X Water REMIX. Released on Audiomack, the record splices two of 2023’s infectious African pop moments: Tyla’s sensual breakout smash, “Water,” and Shallipopi’s street-pop earworm, “Cast.” On paper, it is a risky experiment. In practice, DJ Timi discovers that both songs possess enough rhythmic depth to serenade the same dancefloor.
DJ Timi’s feat starts with the song choices. “Water” already carries a soft, bodily groove, driven by delicate percussion and Tyla’s feathery vocal performance. “Cast,” meanwhile, belongs to Shallipopi’s peculiar strain of Nigerian street-pop aka Beninpiano or Afro Pluto. These are songs with sticky hooks. And DJ Timi restructures the hooks to elevate the remix’s new House-laden environment.
On a closer look, DJ Timi first uses the production almost like a pacifier, instead of suffocating the original songs beneath heavier percussion as is typical with mixes like this. The soothing piano phrases soften the record, allowing Tyla’s voice to glide comfortably across the remix. There is a gentle pulse underneath everything, giving the opening stretch a hypnotic quality. This mellowed feel sweeps throughout the entire track as well.
DJ Timi also folds an anthemic three-step pulse into the House melodies, introducing more gusto without shaking the calmness established earlier. The emerging 3-Step sound is itself built around a three-kick rhythmic pattern, drawing from Afro-House, Amapiano and broken beat. Here, that rhythmic idea gives Cast X Water its most interesting contrast. The piano textures soothe while the percussion agitates. At the end, the music is ear-gripping precisely because the remix rarely feels excessively busy.
Nonetheless, the remix’s strongest technical quality is the transition. For a while, we are unmistakably inside “Water.” Then Tyla begins to disappear. Her vocals are gradually watered down until DJ Timi leaves the instrumental breathing almost independently. There is no dramatic announcement that another record is arriving. Shallipopi simply starts creeping into the mix. His familiar catch phrases vocal slips through, the percussion shifts beneath him and suddenly the song feels very much alive.
By the time “Cast” properly takes over, the House beat has transformed with it. The three-step groove becomes more pronounced and Shallipopi’s loose delivery gives the second stretch a rowdier personality. Yet the handover is so fluid that an inattentive listener might miss exactly where one song ends and the other begins. DJ Timi makes two recognisable records briefly sound like one composition.
There is also genuine catharsis in that seamlessness. Cast X Water ensures that repetition helps unlock release. After a while, you are simply inside the groove. It is easy to imagine the record functioning at its best in a packed room, where familiarity with both originals turns their collision into a communal moment.
However, the remix’s biggest weakness is quite ironic. DJ Timi finds the formula and then leaves it too quickly. For music this deliberately functional, its brevity feels unambitious. Tyla’s original “Water” and Shallipopi’s “Cast” are already compact pop records. A remix designed around House and club culture presents an opportunity to escape those restrictions. Once DJ Timi has successfully established his sonic template, there is room to stretch it. DJs have historically used extended mixes precisely because the dancefloor allows grooves to breathe differently from conventional pop songs.
Still, the brevity does little to erase the pleasure of what is already here. Cast X Water REMIX reveals DJ Timi as someone attentive to both selection, energy and groove. More importantly, it shows that his instincts extend beyond choosing records for a crowd.
Timothy Adekunle, professionally known as DJ Timi, is a Nigerian-born DJ and entertainment personality based in Wales, United Kingdom. Raised in Abuja, his relationship with music began through drumming, singing and dancing before he started DJing during his secondary school years, eventually launching his professional career in 2019. A pivotal moment arrived at Abuja’s Festival of Lights in 2022, where he DJed for Nigerian rapper Blaqbonez before an audience of roughly 700 to 1,000 people.
After relocating to Wales for postgraduate studies at the University of South Wales, DJ Timi became increasingly active within the country’s African music and entertainment scene, working with organisations including Race Council Cymru, Black History Wales and KLAT Magazine.
