Starting in South Africa’s club scene around 2012, Amapiano is a musical genre that features a lot of soul and a great beat. During the COVID pandemic, it soared in popularity thanks in part to TikTok dance challenges, and it continues to attract a global audience. While its popularity is unquestioned, the birth of Amapiano — which means “the pianos” in South Africa’s Zulu language — is often the subject of debate. Some argue the infectious sound is rooted in Kwaito, a style of music which blended house beats with hip hop in the 1990s. Music producer, record label owner, and Kwaito pioneer Oscar Sibonginkosi Mdlongwa, known as Oskido, says Kwaito emerged following a period of political change, that saw the release of Nelson Mandela and the decline of apartheid. “The younger generation at that time, we started creating our own music, which we called Kwaito. We used to take house music, slow it down and from there, we reprogrammed the music,” he says. Fast forward two decades and Amapiano emerges. It features the same slowed-down house beats as Kwaito, but also incorporates jazz, synths and percussive basslines.
SOURCE: CNN
More Stories
Top 5 African Travel Destinations To Visit This August
African Countries that don’t Require a Visa to Enter South Africa
South Africans are Now Swelling the Ranks of Explorers Shouldering Backpacks
Getting around West Africa’s Most Populous City can be an Adventure in Itself
The Mauritian Dream
The Newly Reopened Africa Centre Celebrates the Continent’s Culture (and Seriously Chic Room Dividers)
From Bold Prints to Gender Defying Clothes: 4 Things to Know About Contemporary African Fashion
Meet the Nigerian Artist Visualizing Africa’s Future by Reaching into the Past
En Vogue
Interview: Director K is Making Historic Afrobeats Music Videos
Nigeria has Promised to Legalize Local Refineries and Set Up Refining Hubs in the Niger Delta
Central African Ministers Agree to Merge Two Regional Blocs to Boost Trade and Growth