Before the rise of Black British Afrobeats/Afrofusion artists in the UK we initially had the Afroswing era. Afroswing was a popular subgenre which merged elements of Dancehall, Grime, UK Rap as well as Afrobeats into melodic notes.

Many artists were part of the Afroswing movement which peaked between 2015-2017. Some of these artists includes legends such as J Hus, Naira Marley, Mo Stack & others; however a name which was buzzing in London (In particular the boroughs of Hackney, Islington & Camden) was Bagz who we’ve recently interviewed:

His Afroswing Involement:

Bagz is an artist from East London who had a crazy buzz in London, especially in the aforementioned London boroughs. Whilst the Afroswing sound was still being nurtured and developed he was cooking up these tunes. Collabs with former associate FriscoZT on tracks such as Put In Work and Whatsapp saw crazy success.

His solo singles also performed well such as Stupid Freestlye and Rotation had London in a chokehold. This early success see artists such as Sneakbo and Moelogo take an interest in the Hackney artist. He’d go on to do a school tour across Hackney & beyond whilst getting the attention of labels. One label even offered £60k which he turnt down.

Leaving ZT gang & snitch allegations:

The Afroswing artist was part of the notorious East London gang ZT (Zero Tolerance) and is based in the London Fields area. Before he began doing music, he was already a prominent member in his neighbourhood and would have feuds with other gangs in Hackney and beyond. His parents noticed how his involvement deepened and eventually decided to send him to Nigeria to help save him from himself.

When he eventually came back to the UK he got straight back to his old ways. As soon as he landed he leaned into the Afroswing due to the musical influences he got whilst living in Nigeria and would make songs that reflected that.

Bagz would carry on with his ways until he was stabbed in the neck by an opposition gang member. He survived and managed to tell the tale. This situation would lead him to leave the ZT gang. That decision sparked rumours about the reasoning, with the most popular theory being he snitched on the indiviual that allegedly stabbed him.

Irrespective of this Bagz has continued to push with his music and hopefully he can find consistency with his craft.

Bagz in the present day:

In 2026 Bagz has moved on in life. He still does music and as his day job he works in project management. He has recently released Need A Mobo which is available on all digital streaming platforms.

Bagz will be releasing his mixtape relatively soon called Call Me Oga.

Go and watch the full interview if you’re interested!