Sizwe Sibiya
In less than a decade amapiano has dominated every corner of Mzansi.
From the backroom studios to the world, amapiano artists have been able to do what musicians from other genres can only dream of. And the rest of the world is catching up with the genre.
In London, the BBC has premiered a 25-minute-long documentary titled This is Amapiano which dives deep into the amapiano sound.
With exclusive interviews from artists who have played a major role in promoting the sound, the BBC breaks down the genre into its first lockdrum.
Mzansi DJs, vocalists and producers in amapiano such as Major League DJz, Felo Le Tee, DBN
Gogo, Daliwonga and many more, including guest appearance from Davido, and DJ Edu & Jermiah Asiamah of BBC Radio 1Xtra give their take on the fastest growing genre worldwide.
“It’s an original sound from South Africa. When it touches you it touches you differently,” says the 2020 “Gumba Fire” hitmaker famously known as Daliwonga.
For the documentary, BBC flew to Soweto, Johannesburg where Daliwonga started singing in a church choir and eventually grew into one of the first top amapiano vocalists.
“This is home,” says Daliwonga, who is seen singing with a choir in the streets of Soweto, before amapiano producer DJ Stokie who has been dubbed the “Amapiano Superman” joins in on the interview.
“To me it’s important to be in the township. It all began right here,” says Stokie.
“So, to this day I’m still in the township and I’m still pushing my music,” continues Stokie, who has one of the most popular amapiano songs to ever come out of Soweto, “iPiano eSoweto”, featuring Nia Pearl and Daliwonga.
While the BBC documentary is the latest recognised documentary of amapiano, local production Papercutt.TV also took a dive into the genre that has become a lifestyle for millennials with a number of artists who were already in the game.
The 26-minute-long Papercutt music video is titled “Shaya”, a famous adlib on the amapiano genre.
