BY DR TONY M. MONDA
We are all very familiar with Afro-beats made famous by top-selling Nigerian and Ghanian artists like Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Wendy Shay and Sarkodie. South Africa has recently joined the party with Amapiano-laced songs like “Jerusalema” by Master KG and “Buga” by Kizz Daniel that are popular at weddings and other social events.
The popularity of Amapiano music in the US, or at least its influence on US pop culture and entertainment is undeniable. As House Music saw a revival in popularity in 2021, American musicians began to incorporate distinctly Amapiano elements into their music. Such as Beyonce’s
“My Power,” (via the “Lion King” soundtrack), and influences heard on her hit album “Renaissance”, and Drake’s track “Honestly and Nevermind.”
With more than 2 billion streams in 2022, Amapiano witnessed a 143% increase in streams and over 240 thousand playlists featuring the word “amapiano” in the title. There is no doubt that the genre is slowly incorporating its top position in the line-up of contemporary house and techno subgroups.
South African radio station Y FM began broadcasting an Amapiano Hour in 2019. The youth-led-and-focused radio station gained traction and helped to push the genre through selection of what was considered popular in the Amapiano world.
As one of the fastest growing genres, Amapiano is also progressive, with many women Amapiano artists and DJs who have utilized the genres to share their unique sound. Women in Amapiano have propelled the genre forward in ways that only women could — with innovation, creativity, and authenticity; earning them multiple curated playlists on Spotify.
Notable South African Amapiano producer-musicians included MrJazziQ, Busta 929, Reece Madlisa & Zuma, Semi Tee and Kamu Dee & Miano, despite not having a long run together they were the very first of their kind when Amapiano was still in its infancy. Other popular Amapiano artists include Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, MFR Souls, Focalistic, Njelic, Samthing Soweto, Shasha and Lady Du, among others. Having been given the credit of naming the genre of Amapiano, MFR Souls, originally from the East Rand, are also one of the genre’s early contributors. They released their 2nd album in 2020 titled ‘Musical Kings’, an ode to the talent from their hometown.
ShaSha, of Zimbabwean descent, is the Queen of Amapiano. She came to the attention of DJ
Maphorisa who signed her up. Her soft demeanour and soulful voice garnered mainstream success after featuring on MFR Souls’ track ‘Love You Tonight’; Samthing Soweto’s ‘Akulaleki’ and her first Amapiano single “Tender Love” with DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small. All became smash hits winning her a BET award for ‘Best International Act’ in 2020.
ShaSha, was crowned the “Queen of Amapiano” for her breakthrough hit “Woza”. The word Woza derived from isiZulu , directly translates to mean “come” but its inferred meaning is “come on” or “hurry up”. Alongside Lady Du, the vocals on “Woza” come from the talented and versatile singer Boohle whose soulful voice adds a beautiful layering to the song, with Kabza De Small making an appearance as himself.
The cool sublime tone of Woza is typical of most female AmaPiano artists that contrast in spirit, tone, lyrics and melody to the vigorous pounding, guttural world and the machine gun rattle typical of the male Amapiano music.
Amapiano music videos uploaded by the artists proved popular amongst young people using social media platforms. The videos fuelled the dancing scene in South Africa. Viral dance challenges on social media turned burgeoning Amapiano artists like Kamo Mphela into stars overnight.
Her introduction to Amapiano came when Jobe London asked her to do the female vocals on his hit song ‘Sukendleleni. Since then this 21 year old dance Queen has featured on songs like ‘Sandton’ by Kabza De Small and ‘Amanikiniki’ by MFR Souls. Kamo released her first album ‘Nkulunkulu’ in April 2021, accompanied by the lead single with the same title.
Tyla who describes her music as “a fusion between Rhythm and Blues, Pop, Amapiano and Afrobeats”, first gained recognition when she released her Amapiano dance-themed song, ‘Getting Late’ in 2019.
Growing up she listened to Brenda Fassie, Freshly Ground and MiCasa.
In October 2023, the Afro-Beat song Water by South African singer Tyla gained international prominence following a viral Bacardi dance challenge on social media.
It became the first song by a South African soloist to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years, andwas a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand, where it reached number one.
Amapiano was born in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, where music is a microscopic lens and auditory gauge for a deeper understanding of the community. It first made its rounds in the underground club circuit in 2016.
Today, as the Amapiano genre continues to thrive, grow and mutate more and more international artists are beginning to take notice and join this infectious wave of music. As the genre evolves from its historical origins AmaPiano has become as viral as the COVID-19 variants of its times.
Infused with optimism the future of Amapiano is one full of possibilities as talented young artists and ingenious creators continue to make their mark in the genre. As mainstay music stars like Drake, Chris Brown, Janet Jackson, Rihanna and Beyoncé continue to fuse Diasporic sounds into their music, South Africa’s Amapiano is no doubt destined to cross over into more mainstream musical sounds.
Amapiano is a celebration of African creativity and should be recognised as an intangible heritage of South Africa.
Dr. Tony Michel Monda holds a PhD. in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA in Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He teaches and plays multiple instruments and has been a guest lecturer at universities in New York, Seattle, Washington DC, Florida, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cape Town, Paris, Dar-es-Salaam and Harare. He is a music consultant for Zimbabwe’s education curriculum and an arts, culture and music critic for Gemnation News. For Comments E-mail: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com
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