It’s fifteen minutes past 11 am, the sun is out mingling with the breezing cold. We take a left turn down the devil street as it comes to life in Mamelodi, Pretoria, South Africa.
“Why Devil Street?” I ask about the boulevard also known as Tsweu Street. On a busy day, as I came to find out, a lot happens on this street that runs for an eighth of a mile before splitting to join other streets of Mamelodi township. Criminals have been shot dead in broad daylight here, not twice or thrice.
On one side of the street, a group of locals sunbathing outside stores blast ‘kwaito’ music. A few yards away, another is enjoying bacardi jams from a car’s open boot. They each dance to the tunes holding gigantic one-litre beer bottles.
Amapiano, currently one of the top most exported commodities out of South Africa if Spotify data is anything to go by, is yet another grooving sound gaining traction on the streets of Mamelodi. It’s been ten years since Amapiano rose to popularity and I am in Mzansi (South Africa) for the decennial celebration of this ‘yanos music’, as it is commonly referred to here.
A blend of deep house, jazz, lounge music and kwaito characterized by its tempo, synths, repetitive piano melodies, wide percussive catchy basslines (log drum) and unique synergy, Amapiano became more palatable to many when it got its new identity, when a little known music producer added an engineering component to the synths.
“The sound changed in the hands of Mdu TRP when he added the log drum in his productions. That’s when Amapiano got its new identity. The log drum came to signify what Amapiano is like if you couldn’t differentiate the sound,” Thabiso Kati, a Johannesburg music executive says.
Amapiano star Focalistic arrives for a fireside chat with music journalists at Jack Budha space in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
Photo credit: Pool | Nation
Focalistic, who is among the top most streamed Amapiano artistes in the last decade concurs. “Shout out to Mdu TRP. When he added the log drum, he saved us all by giving Amapiano its unique identity. There is no Amapiano without the log drum.”
The log drum, a mainstay in amapiano music, has been credited for the huge success of the genre.
“I don’t know how he figured out the log drum. These boys like experimenting. ..Once he had it figured out, he ran with it,” notable producer Kabza De Small says.
Although the origin of Amapiano still remains a heated debate in Mzansi, locals here claim Mamelodi is where this genre that caught the attention of international stars such as Beyoncé, Rick Ross, Jay Z, Jamie Foxx, Kelly Rowland among others, was birthed.
“I used to come here a lot at Jack Budha where Amapiano geniuses like Kabza De Small would gather to play the sound when it was still an underground movement. The people here have always accepted the sound since its inception,” Focalistic says.
It’s at Jack Budha’s, an open space and tavern on the other side of Devil Street, that Focalistic fell in love with Amapiano and went on to establish himself as one of the hottest properties of the sound. Almost all notable Amapiano mavens, mostly deejays who have ruled the Amapiano charts in the last decade, had their first break at Jack Budha.
“When I established this fireplace in 2009, I wanted to offer space to our creatives as well. DJ Maphorisa, Kabza, Jay Sax, Focalistic, Bongo Beats all began their Amapiano journeys here,” the soft-spoken Jack Budhaa tells me.
Emerging in the 2010s, replacing Kwaito and Bacardi, Amapiano is the predominant sound you get to hear banging in almost every part of the South Africa you find yourself in. It’s probably the reason why every township wants to claim the bragging rights of its origin: from the streets of Soweto, Mamelodi, Attredgivelle, Katlehong, Alexandra to Vosloorus.
MFR Souls duo, who are both deejays and music producers, have long been recognised as the first Amapiano artistes to really make the sound commercially viable, despite them not being as commercially successful as a number of their peers. In a 2020 Amapiano documentary dubbed Shaya, Mark Khoza, an emcee and Amapiano artiste, gives MFR Souls credits:
“There is a guy who would play the keyboard along to a DJ’s set. Even in the studio, he'd play the piano over the recording. Later, someone else would come with the idea of infusing that practice with deep house. Eventually, Kabza De Small also played the same music. The genre used to be called “number” but MFR Souls came up with the name amapiano,” Khoza claims.
However, according to music exec Thabiso, it would be disingenuous to solely credit MFR Souls as Amapiano originator. “They are the guys who get mentioned a lot as far as the birth of Amapiano is concerned, but I think it was a collaboration of many. At the time the energy was profound, creatives were just sharing ideas that’s why I don’t think you can exactly pinpoint the founder of Amapiano. We haven’t been able to definitively say this is the guy who found it.”
Covid-19 pandemic kick-started the popularity of Amapiano, as South African deejays played sets online for millions of fans stuck at home. In a tribute to Amapiano’s remarkable journey over the past decade, Spotify released a data report, A Decade of Amapiano , underscoring its profound impact on global music.
Whereas South Africa leads in the consumption of its own music, accounting for 78 percent, Amapiano has also gained massive popularity abroad. Kenya ranks ninth among top countries streaming Amapiano in the last 10 years after the USA, UK, Nigeria, Germany, Netherlands, France and Canada. DJ Maphorisa remains a darling in Kenya, as the top streamed Amapiano artiste in the country, followed by Kabza De Small, Tyler ICU and Focalistic.
According to Chart Data SA, DJ Maphorisa and Kabza have each amassed over 100 million streams, with Tyler surpassing 70 million Spotify streams and Focalistic’s numbers standing at 50 million plus. As of 2020, Amapiano's total streams reached 100 million, tripling in 2021 and surging past 1.4 billion streams by 2023.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a front-row seat to Amapiano’s early growth and its later global explosion. One of the things that’s always stood out to me, and which I think has helped the genre achieve its global standing, is just how distinctly South African it sounds, looks and feels.” offers Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s head of Music for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).
Okumu says the platform has also played a huge role in the growth of Amapiano since going mainstream. “This is why Spotify is taking charge in celebrating a decade of Amapiano. There has been a growing demand for Amapiano and, as a platform, we have been engaging in a number of activities in support of this vibrant genre.”
Part of what Spotfify has done is the launch of its flagship Amapiano Grooves playlist. “Spotify users have created over 14.8 million Amapiano playlists and this includes countries like Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa,” she adds.
With Amapiano’s popularity increasing, the digital service provider also developed a tool that allows musicians to raise money through tips. Ms Okumu says Spotify has also been edifying creatives through tools such as ‘Spotify for Artists’, that offers masterclasses to emerging and established artistes to upskill on branding, marketing and visibility, to enhance their commercial gains.
Amapiano influence on fashion
While there is no sense of the homogeneity associated with some genres, there are a few common motifs.
Among men here, bucket hats which call to the Kwaito era are a common sight. You are also likely to see canvas sneakers, moccasins and golf shirts.
As for the lady “baddies”, they would be in leggings, joggers, body-con dresses or loose-fitting pants.
