In 2019 Amapiano began to dominate South Africa’s dance floors to such an extent that, by 2021, the first South African Amapiano Awards were held to mark the rise of the country’s most infectious new music export. In 2022, the South African dance music genre continued to expand its galloping worldwide reach.
The annual awards are now an established event in South Africa’s music calendar.
Amapiano is a soulful mix of grooves, sonic textures and moods that can be by turns hectic, smooth, melodic or simply enchanting. It is also defined by its unique percussive bass.
Breaks within songs are punctuated by brief staccato beats (or signatures) scrawled by the synthesised sounds of the African log drum. In short, it’s a fresh new DJ-driven dance music sound with upbeat piano melodies, a slowed-down dance beat and rolling drum sound.
Its ever-growing influence is a joyful celebration of South Africa’s decades-long contribution to global dance music.
The rise of Amapiano
Amapiano sprang out of the townships of South Africa’s Gauteng province as early as 2012 and is continually evolving through musical innovation, public adulation and commercial viability. The craze has spread to parts of southern Africa and to countries in west Africa such as Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, artists are releasing Amapiano tracks and albums with an Afrobeats flavour.
The East African nations of Kenya and Tanzania are also catching the bug. And Amapiano artists are touring the globe.
Unlike hip-hop music, Amapiano is still in its infancy and exudes an infectious innocence coupled with multiple waves of mesmerising sounds and grooves. For now, there isn’t much of hip-hop’s bad blood, enragement or despair to impede the burgeoning scene. There’s something novel and expansive about the carefree and optimistic sounds of Amapiano.
Today, the most exciting celebrities to be found in the South African music scene come from Amapiano. Focalistic, DBN Gogo, Pabi Cooper, Reece Madlisa, Zuma, Daliwonga, Lady Du, Nkosazana Daughter, Sir Trill and many more new heavy hitters all drink from the fount of Amapiano.
Those left behind
But just as Amapiano continues to rage through the South African music spectrum with ingenuity, confidence and creativity, its victims are left perplexed in the dust. Prominent house music DJ Prince Kaybee and Durban’s prodigiously talented Afropop crooner TNS have spoken out about how Amapiano is monopolising the music industry to the detriment of other genres. Even hip-hop mainstays like the late AKA knew that the biggest threat to their genre is Amapiano.
Consequently, many hip-hop artists hopped onto the bandwagon with Amapiano-inspired tracks – from Cassper Nyovest and Khuli Chana to Costa Titch and Reason.
Those in the spotlight
At a glance, the nominees for the 2023 South African Amapiano Awards feature all the usual suspects.
The self-styled king of Amapiano Kabza De Small leads with nine nominations, followed by Young Stunna with eight, DJ Maphorisa and Daliwonga.
There are also several upcoming aspirers on the list, like Toss, Mas Musiq, Kelvin Momo and Q-Mark and TipCee.
For the first time, this impressive spread also includes a few prominent Nigerian and Ghanaian stars – Davido, Wizkid, Goya Menor and Nektunez.
Article by: Sanya Osha – Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.