The sound of Amapiano is like prolonging moments when, in South African townships, the sounds of everyday living merge with the music that forms the bedrock of daily life there. Before dawn, a hymn sung while sweeping might match the rhythm at a nearby lala vuka (all nighter). One afternoon, the rain overhead might intensify to match an aunty or uncle's favorite part of a jazz song. Nobody's dog could bark an ad-lib to the bassline playing in a passing car. Amapiano plucks what is almost in the township air and originates sound, dance, fashion, lingo, and overall culture from that.
Amapiano was invented in the townships at the outskirts of South Africa's towns and cities. Known as kasi in slang (derived from the Afrikaans lokasie), the township was created by apartheid spatial planning to house Black people. Dikasi (plural) were designed to be barren places where nothing would grow. But instead, South African townships became greenhouses for culture-especially music-to germinate, take root, and become sources of life for the oppressed people living in them.
Amapiano borrows its keys and melodies from jazz and gospel, its drums and tempo from house music and diBacardi, while Kwaito loans Amapiano its basslines and harmonies.
Jazz music grew in South Africa in step with its popularization in the United States. It became not only a source of entertainment, solace, and escape, but also an instrument with which Black South Africans fought against apartheid. You need only look at the names of some current and past Amapiano acts to make the connection between jazz and Amapiano-Jazzi Disciples, Mapara A Jazz, and Mr. Jazziq are a few. One of the other ways Amapiano borrows its melodies from jazz is by reworking South African jazz standards. Focalistic does this to great effect by using the melody from guitarist Jimmy Dlulu's Winds of Change on his Tiya Mfana release with DJ Tshegu.
Gospel music, especially choral, has been composed and sung in churches, homes, at funerals, celebrations, and anywhere else a higher power needs to be summoned in South Africa. Some of Amapiano's most popular singers developed their voices in the church. For example, vocalist Babalwa M, who frequently collaborates with Private School Amapiano Dean of Faculty Kelvin Momo, told True Love magazine, I lived in a Christian house, I obviously used to go to church. So, we used to have youth services and we'd have an opportunity to showcase your talents.
Kwaito music was the sound of a generation both witnessing and creating a nonracial, democratic South Africa. The slowed-down dance songs from across the world matched with young South African vocalists in the 1990s, and together they created Kwaito, the iconic sound of the country's liberation.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Afro, Deep, and Tribal House became popular as access to records from outside the country became increasingly available and affordable. This helped to develop South African dance music's groove sensibility. And when diBacardi entered the scene, mushrooming from Pitori, the greater Pretoria area, it also grew into an important influence on the South African dance music scene.
The styles of music that Amapiano borrows from are still popular in South African townships and continue to cross-pollinate, influencing each other while remaining firmly grounded in their own respective histories.
The last time we saw a uniquely South African genre paint a clear picture of the state of South African groove culture was with Kwaito spearheaded by youth. What Amapiano has managed to bring with it from the ground up locally and eventually globally, is admirable, not only from a music point of view but also cultures'', says Phiona Okumu, Head of Music at Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa.
At first, Amapiano had a divisive ethos. Little was known about this movement and the music at the center of it by observers outside its circles of initiates. Generally, Amapiano punters were notorious for brazenly pursuing epicurean excess. Kabza De Small and Lehleza released the Amabele Shaya Remix music video as the tide began to turn for this style of music. For outsiders, that music video was a glimpse into a culture that was seductively inaccessible. Amabele ebusweni bendoda / Amabele ebusweni bendoda / Amabele ebusweni bendoda / Amabele ebusweni bendoda (roughtly translated to breasts on a man's face ) a tank-topped, sweaty Leehleza repeats the song's refrain to partygoers in a nondescript warehouse. Many wanted to be in that video, while also happy to be a safe distance away.
The greater South African population had another taste of this sweet taboo in Semi Tee, Miano, and Kamu Dee's Labantwana Ama Uber, in which the chorus is a thinly veiled reference to drug use and sex. Amapiano music was being lapped up and danced to by all South Africans and creeds by the time Mapara a Jazz, Colano, and Ntosh Gazi's John Vuli Gate became a hit single, dance trend, and the reason for the most modest and upright citizens of the Rainbow Nation to collectively clutch their beaded necklaces and kiss their teeth in disapproval.
Since then, the Amapiano movement has evolved in different directions. Its dominance of mainstream music in South Africa and entry into the global dance music arena made it necessary for producers and vocalists to consider different styles of Amapiano to fit different occasions.
Over the past decade, Amapiano has watered and warmed the wildest dreams of its artists, most of whom come from the underserved townships at the outskirts of the Gauteng province's cities. And where there were scraggly shrubs of careers not so long ago, there is now a forest of artists, managers, choreographers and dancers, stylists, content producers, and other professions beginning to thicken all thanks to the
Europe Stories
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
18 Dec 2025
VEON Upgraded to Nasdaq Global Select Market, Enhancing Investor Visibility Dubai, December 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital o...
18/12/2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Sky Sports remains the exclusive home of the Masters ...
18/12/2025
Using the additive process of 3D printing, layer after layer gets printed until an object is as close to the final shape needed as possible. Historically, machi...
18/12/2025
In 2025, RT proudly supported 185 arts and cultural events across the island of Ireland, reflecting significant growth since the scheme was re-launched in 2014...
18/12/2025
RT Sports Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
18/12/2025
RT lyric fm presents a very special Winter Solstice edition of Ambient Orbit, l...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Wuppertal December 17, 2025
Riedel Builds Global Communication and Commentary ...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
The sound of Amapiano is like prolonging moments when, in South African townships, the sounds of everyday living merge with the music that forms the bedrock of daily life there. Before dawn, a hymn sung while sweeping might match the rhythm at a nearby lala vuka (all nighter). One afternoon, the rain overhead might intensify to match an aunty or uncle's favorite part of a jazz song. Nobody's dog could bark an ad-lib to the bassline playing in a passing car. Amapiano plucks what is almost in the township air and originates sound, dance, fashion, lingo, and overall culture from that.
