Dj Reactions: 

DJ Spinna - It's about time this was released. Really digging the new FTL RMX
Danny Krivit - Actually, I like both versions :)
Dj Spoony - All over this!! Beats are infectious. Both great mixes. What can I say? :)
Groove Assassin - Love this ...FTL turn out a HEAVY remix !
Djeff - Beautiful release! I loved this one. both mixes are great
Mr V - LOVE BOTH MIXES!!!
DJ Ala - nice and bumpin afro goodness!
Master Kev - Swift's best work to date! Been rocking this one for a long while and still do. SOLID!
Tyrone Francis - Great Release will support..


'Afro Hard' doesn't hold back, riding a stomping drumbeat from the get-go, with just a richly resonant, echo-laden African voice intones a message about the importance of love, tolerance and interdependence ('Why should we hate? We didn't bring anything to this world and we will never take anything back')* while the percussive riffs, the keyboards and the track builds round them. And it keeps on building, adding layers of Theo Lawson's sung vocals, African and Latin-influenced percussion and inventive freestyle keyboard melodies that make it a great instrumental too.

But then Ruben 'Swift' Vidal is not the kind of guy to pull his punches, having been a rapper and deeply involved in the world of hip hop - working with the likes of Jay-Z, Eminem, Busta Rhymes and Justin Timberlake on engineering and marketing - before a visit to New York's The Shelter where he fell in love with the positive vibes and sounds of soulful house music. That led him to form the DJN Project with Rick Galacktik, a truly prolific partnership, and later to form Sugar Groove, an Atlanta-based record label which allows him to release his own tracks and to feature top house music artists like Kenny Bobien and Mr V on their records and events, while always focusing on the soulful musical element. 

Jeremias Santiago featured on one of the early Sugar Groove releases and here the Staten Island-based producer - who's been DJing since the age of nine and producing records on his own FTL (For The Love ) label since 2003 - reconfigures the tune to deliver a track that feels very different. The FTL remix rides on piano loops, nice 'n' bumpy percussion and melodic synth rolls before introducing Theo Lawson's spoken and sung vocals, gradually opening out the melodic keyboard lines to create a track that feels like it's 4am and the party is going deeper....

* This comes from the translation, naturally

Writing & production
Produced By Ruben "Swift" Vidal for Sugar Groove
Vocal By Theo lawson
Bass By Tim "Slikk Tim" Bercherand
Synth Solo By: Yoel Ben Yehuda
Afro Hard (FTL Rmx)
Produced By Jeremias Santiago(FTL)
Executive Producer Dean Zepherin