Afta Hill

Toronto artist blog.

Afta Hill is an Iranian Canadian artist hailing from Toronto Canada. Afta popped up on my radar after his collaboration with ASADI back in September of 2022. Ever since then, I have been keeping an eye out and after the release of his “NOTHING nothing” album, it became clear to me that he is something truly special. His voice is something else, it’s one of the main things that truly sticks out in his music. His cadence compliments his vocal tone and his mixing style helps his vocal really shine through. Afta has a pretty solid discography when it comes to length and duration. Afta’s first release dates back to 2018 but he has been making music his whole life, he’s been doing music since he was 12 years old. He began his career at this age as a producer under the name Safakash. He has garnered a total of 15,000,000 streams throughout his career having his music featured on channels like Casey Neistat, CloudKid, Kota, Czech Sound Vibes, and Discover The Vibes. Afta is a very ambitious artist with a quality for the arts that has given him a name in the city. He’s trying to become the biggest and most successful Iranian artist in the West. This is one of the reasons behind his opening his personal record label and publisher titled “Bad Faith Records.” He is someone that is a jack of all triads, he doesn’t need anyone. He is fully sufficient on his own and his understanding of the music industry is what will take him that much further. His public career begins back in 2018 with his first release being a 3-track tape titled “Ace.” This short tape delivers a very different Afta that we all know and love today. It’s still very well-produced music, it’s just a very experimental sound with a clear lack of vocal range that he has now. “Gtfo” stands as my favorite of the project, the production and vocal delivery on this one is by far the best. He really showcased what he can do on this track, and you can see the signs of what’s to come. 2018 would be a pretty solid year, we would get a number of singles that all delivered something different. This is a prime example of an experimental era. It’s not that far off from each other like a different genre but he was really trying it all. I love “Help It With Love,” and “Mia.” His melodic cadence would reach a different level with these tracks. He really started to tap into his potential here, pushing his vocals and music structure to a more mainstream level. These were not his most popular singles but they were his best at this time. 2019 would be a very solid year with a lot of music, he would release his debut album titled “97 Xpress.” This 11-track album is his well-put-together product to date. He has this hip-hop, pop, R&B-infused sound here that really sounds great. His production had the punchy trap production while delivering a soft vocal performance. Some of my favorites of this project were “Superfly,” “No Filter,” and “Cabana Freestyle.” This project demonstrates his versatility. Just these 3 tracks alone just showcase how versatile Afta really is. “No Filter” delivers a very Latin pop kind of aesthetic.

It’s definitely my favorite of the project, there is just something so perfect about the delivery and tonality of everything. The Mexican-inspired instruments are a perfect touch. Then you have “Cabana Freestyle” which delivers a Pop Trap infused sound that Afta absolutely excelled in. His voice is just so smooth, its infectious melody is hard to miss. This track is truly underrated and one that holds up like fine wine. Afta would continue to release singles throughout the year with his next major drop being his short 4-track EP titled “EP 3: Insomnia.” This Ep would continue the style and approach of the album, “Waiting Games,” and “Burner” are amazing stand-out tracks with that vocal-heavy performance on both singles. “Waiting Games” has a very powerful performance from Afta, this track made me really feel something. This is one of the most important metrics for a quality song, does it make you feel, this song really did get me into my feelings and I can definitely salute Afta on that. He would stay consistent moving into 2020 but wouldn’t have any really eventful releases. 2021 would be the year we got his second studio album titled “Tehranto.” This 13-track project takes versatility to another level. He has some amazing tracks on here and some of them are very different from one another. Some of the stand-out tracks are “Bop,” “In The Morning” featuring Nicole Glazunov, and “Vibin.” The production here is superb, everything from the production to the mixing is just so well done. His vocal performance would level up even more. It’s hard to describe but there are those very noticeable improvements that are heavily carried by the confidence behind the mic but also experience that can only be achieved with time. There are some things that even with the perfect technique wouldn’t sound the same without the experience of time. This project feels like a more grounded and developed Afta but it would only get better from here. For the next 2 years, Afta wouldn’t really release too much music, he would be going for a more quality-over-quantity approach and it definitely worked. Afta’s biggest and most powerful release to date was his most recent album titled “NOTHING nothing.” This 11-track project is his most mature and well-put-together piece to date. The project is great from top to bottom. There are really no misses here. I feel the duration of the project is perfect. So many artists these days post 20-track albums to boost sales but forget to focus on the art of it. Afta has the right mindset behind his career and I can safely say that there are a lot of bangers here. Some of my personal favorites include “RANGE,” “HEART BEATING,” “I’M DIFFERENT,” and “HE BOUGHT IT.” Afta's vocal range and delivery have reached a new level on this project. You can hear how much more he can do with his voice here, compared to even his previous project. I’m really excited to see where Afta is planning on going next. Based on this project he has a very exciting future ahead of him and I can’t wait to see him flourish.

Written by Maxim Bayarsky