Blue Eyed Afropop

Thomas Geelens is a Dutch independent artist and the voice behind blue eyed afropop. A sound built on African rhythms, indie pop melodies and a vocal that cuts through everything you thought you knew about the genre.

The foundation was laid early. Growing up in Maastricht, his mother sat him behind a drum kit before he could choose for himself. He wanted guitar. But those years behind the drums gave him something no guitar lesson ever could: a deep, instinctive feel for rhythm. That same feel is what pulls him into afropop today.

As a teenager he got hooked on the guitar solos of Slash and Mark Knopfler. Then John Mayer came along and showed him what happens when you combine guitar, voice and storytelling into one package. In 2010, at twenty years old, Thomas was walking through Central Park in New York when melodies and lyrics started falling into his head faster than he could write them down. He flew home to Maastricht, quit his job at Game Mania in Wyck and went all in on music. No backup plan.

For over a decade he wrote, produced and recorded everything himself. Learning every part of the craft from scratch. Then in late 2022 he heard Zukunft Pink by Peter Fox. The moment that log drum hit, something locked into place. Powerful but gentle. Raw but warm. Afropop found him and never let go.

He coined the term blue eyed afropop. Not to claim a genre, but to carve out his own lane within it. A white European drawing from African musical traditions with full respect, bringing his own voice and his own story to the table.

Over 75 releases since 2018. Pop, deep house, dance, country, singer-songwriter. All self-written, self-produced and self-recorded. Every genre, every experiment, every late night session building toward something he hadn't found yet. All creative work runs through Lifthill Studio.

Then 2026 hit and the house got swept clean. Every genre, every detour, every lesson led to one place: blue eyed afropop. The era has started. Locked in. Ready for joy, movement and a tender power that is not afraid to be seen and heard.