Amapiano

Amapiano is a style of house music that emerged in South Africa in 2014. Amapiano is a sophisticated hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths, airy pads and wide basslines.[1] It is distinguished by high pitched piano melodies, Kwaito basslines, low tempo 90s South African house rhythms and percussions from another local subgenre of house known as Bacardi.[2]

Amapiano
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsMid-2010s Gauteng, South Africa
Typical instruments
Local scenes

Origins

Although it is known the genre gained popularity in Gauteng, there is a lot of ambiguity in terms of where the Amapiano style of music originates, with various accounts of the musical style in Johannesburg townships, Soweto, Alexandra, Vosloorus and Katlehong where it is most common. Because of the genre's similarities with Barcadi, some people assert the genre began in the Pretoria area with DJ Mojava which was made popular by Pretoria taxi drivers and has been an on going debate about the origin of Amapiano.[3][4][5]

Various accounts as to who formed the popular genre make it impossible to accurately pinpoint its origins.[6]

Popularity

Initially, Amapiano[7] was a confined success in the townships, playing in popular pubs and taverns around Gauteng. The sound itself was underground music, being shared around using messaging apps, more commonly WhatsApp, before it became mainstream being recognised by streaming services such as Deezer, Spotify, Apple Music. The genre was further popularised by DJs who would transform popular music hits and incorporating the jazzy low-tempo into those tracks, including DJ Ganyani[https://fakazavibes.com/?s= and Kabza De Small.[8]

As of 2020, Amapiano[9] is getting more mainstream across Africa; there are several dedicated charts now, more playlists on digital platforms, not just by South Africans alone.[10][11][12]

Amapiano Gained more international recognition after Zimbabwean Amapiano Vocalist Sha Sha won The Viewers Choice Best New International Act at the just concluded 2020 BET Awards.[13]

The sound is filled with some melodious piano tunes, coupled with a "gong-gong" sound, making it up to what is called "Amapiano". Some DJs and producers do mix it up with Gqom.

Criticism

In January 2019, German-born American-based DJ Lars Behrenroth criticized the genre and its artists on Twitter.

“Finally checked it out for the first time and all i can say is Amapiano & Godf#$! of Deep House = same WhatsApp group… what a snoozefest..eeeekkk”.

— Lars Behrenroth.[14]

The tweet caused a major uproar of many fans of the genre. His comment also prompted several artists such as Black Coffee, Zakes Bantwini, Kid Fonque, Busiswa and Cassper Nyovest to defend the genre and laughed off Lars' criticism.[15]

“I am a fan of Kwaito, Gqom, and Amapiano. I am not ashamed. I’m a House head but these genres are pure South African and need to be supported by every South African,”

— Zakes Bantwini

Prince Kaybee also took to Twitter to slam Lars's comment and told him to "leave us and our music alone".

South Africans shouldn’t let caucasian house music DJs talk bad about a proudly black pioneered sound like amapiano. Protect what's yours, with this mentality we are far from exporting music!These are black children trying to eat, bro. Let them shine! If you don’t like it shut up and move on, don’t say anything negative to try and slow down the growth of a proudly South African genre."

— Prince Kaybee, [16]

References
  1. "The 10 Best Amapiano Songs of 2019". OkayAfrica. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  2. Prspct (2018-11-21). "New age house music: the rise of "amapiano"". Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  3. "Amapiano: a township sound with staying power". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  4. Joyce, Liam Karabo (23 October 2019). "Meet the vocalist featured on the biggest amapiano tracks". Independent Online. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  5. "Amapiano a new movement... Period". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  6. "Charting the Meteoric Rise of South Africa's AmaPiano". Spotify. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  7. "Amapiano Songs, Albums And Mixtapes". ZAMUSIC.ORG. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  8. "Dj Maphorisa & Kabza De Small – Scorpion Kings Live at Sun Arena 11 April". Hiphopza. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  9. "Amapiano Songs, Albums And Mixtapes". hiphopza.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  10. "Amapiano 2020: Download New Amapiano Mix,Songs,Music Video Fakaza". AFROBEAT.CO.ZA. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  11. Machaieie, Mario (2019-10-21). "2019 The Year Of The Yanos, How Amapiano Blow up". Online Youth Magazine | Zkhiphani.com. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  12. Amapiano. "Top Amapiano Songs 2020". Amapiano.Org. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  13. "Amapiano Star Sha Sha Wins 2020 BET Viewers' Choice: Best New International Act Award" (in Turkish). Hiphopza.com. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  14. "Prince kaybee defends amapiano after Lars Behrenroth throws shade". timeslive.co.za. 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  15. "MORE CELEBS DEFEND AMAPIANO MUSIC". DailySun. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  16. "These are black children trying to eat: Prince Kaybee joins amapiano debate". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

[2020]

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