Al abwab tughlaq *untz untz untz* doors closing…

Sampling has been an essential strand of house music DNA for as long as the genre has existed. Borrowed beats that add depth and flavour to soothing soups of soulful sound. Often plucked from songs of the jazz, funk and disco eras – there have been some truly iconic samples throughout house music’s dancefloor tenure. The ubiquitous drumstickuous loop of the Amen Break perhaps looms largest of all, there’s Loleatta Holloway’s legendary vocals from Love Sensation, and the stirring synth breakdown from Your Love by Jamie Principle.

But it takes a special type of music genius to transform a Dubai Metro service announcement into a cold-hard, Gold nol, tickets please, Red Line, Green Line, mind the gap, banger. Enter Dubai–based DJ and producer, Jose Anthraper.

Available to stream on his Soundcloud page (under the moniker Jose VA), his track ‘Dubai Metro’ is a four-minute and five-second ode to al abwab tughlaq – a minimalist, transcendent track that treks through the sonic highlands of our emblematic urban jungle. And it slaps. In addition to the ‘doors closing’ refrains, keep a trained ear out for the announcement chimes, train-whistle-emulating bass beats and the smooth strings that sound suspiciously like a train approaching the platform.

Joae does more than simply build beats, he’s also building an authentic house music-appreciating community, with nights staged around non-commercial sounds, open deck invitations, and just room-to-room solid tunes.

The next, The Edit event is set to take place at Tyler’s Tavern in Port Rashid, on July 18. And the invite is open to genuine music fans only. If you’re coming to just film the whole thing for TikTok Clout, as he says in one of his recent videos, this night is probably not for you.