The streets of South Africa have been pulsating with the sound of Amapiano for years, despite the dance challenges currently taking TikTok by storm. Amapiano is a distinctive and fascinating style of music that developed in the townships of South Africa. It combines traditional African music with contemporary electronic beats.
Amapiano can be compared to the love child of the deep South African home and traditional tribal traditions. The genre has dominated the charts and airwaves, winning over listeners around the world while launching a new generation of South African artists onto the international music scene.
The rise of South African music from the township to the world stage showcases the country’s rich musical heritage, cultural diversity and resilience in the face of adversity. As the country evolves and grows, music will no doubt continue to play an important role in shaping its cultural identity and connecting it to the rest of the world.
The emergence of Amapiano has been one of the most important trends in South African music during the past years. It has grown and become more popular, with many artists experimenting with new sounds and styles within the genre.
Outside of South Africa, the genre is gaining popularity, especially in other African countries and in the United Kingdom, where it is broadcast on popular radio stations. This suggests that it has the potential to establish itself as a genre with international appeal.
One of the major factors in the rise of South African music is the increasing globalization of the music industry. South African artists have been able to connect with audiences worldwide through the internet, social media, international tours and collaborations with other artists. This has raised the profile of South African music and introduced it to new audiences.
DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small, South African Amapiano artists.
There are many talented South African artists who have made significant contributions to the Amapiano genre. Some of the most popular native artists are; Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, Sha Sha, Major League DJz, Focalistic, Musa Keys, Vigro Deep, And Focalisticamong other things.
On the global diaspora stage, Zimbabwean-born singer Sha Sha won ‘Best New International Act’ at the 2020 BET Awards, along with Maphorisa and De Small. More so, the Rainbow Nation’s melodic sounds accompanied by native clicks and accents provide the stamp to certify a South African artist – kudos to Sho Madjozi and her viral song ‘John Cena’.
Recently, Master KG’s -Jerusalema, which came out late last year, sparked the TikTok trend ‘#Jerusalemachallenge’, strengthening the market strategy for a global audience in 2020. As powerful and catchy as the song is, it set a new record as Shazam’s most searched song in September.
Yuvir Pillay, music operations manager at TikTok South Africa, notes that Amapiano is the country’s largest music genre on TikTok. “We noticed at the end of 2019 that many of our young people started using Amapiano music to make their food videos, their dance videos, their fashion videos and memes. And we really saw people embracing the genre and wanting to deal with it. We haven’t seen a local music genre take over a platform in this kind of massive escalation in a long time,” said Pillay.
Amapiano has attracted artists from other genres and nationalities, including Nigerian electrofusion singer Wurld, who has taken up the genre outside of South Africa. Before artists like Wurld came into the picture, Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Davido had jumped on the beat and teamed up with South African Amapiano superstar Focalistic to make a hit in Nigeria. Focalistic talked about how he and Davido met four years ago on a South African tour, and their collaboration on the song was a spiritually driven experience.
In terms of collaborations outside the continent, artists such as DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small have collaborated with international artists such as Drake, Alicia Keys and Ed Sheeran. That has brought the genre to a wider global audience and made it a major player in the global music industry.