Amapiano is a style of house music that emerged in South Africa in 2012. Amapiano is a sophisticated hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths, airy pads and wide basslines. It is distinguished by high pitched piano melodies, Kwaito basslines, low tempo 90s South Africanhouse rhythms and percussions from another local subgenre of house known as Bacardi.
Origins
Although it is known the genre gained popularity in Gauteng, there is a lot of ambiguity in terms of where the 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. Various accounts as to who formed the popular genre make it impossible to accurately pinpoint its origins.
Popularity
Initially, Amapiano 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 and Kabza De Small. As of 2020, Amapiano is getting more mainstream across Africa; there are several dedicated charts now, more playlists on digital platforms, not just by South Africans alone. Amapiano gained international recognition after Zimbabwean Amapiano vocalist Sha Sha won the Viewers Choice Best New International Act at the 2020 BET Awards. And Also When Prolific Amapiano Producer Kabza De Small Dropped His Chart Topping Amapiano Album Project Which He Titled I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust. 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. 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. Prince Kaybee also took to Twitter to slam Lars's comment and told him to "leave us and our music alone".
