
From the music studio to the dance challenge, from the lifestyle to the mpahla (slang for fashion), women have played a critical role in shaping and giving direction to the Amapiano movement. Women who are essential to Amapiano's success do not enjoy the comparative success of their male counterparts even though Spotify recorded an 87% growth in the streams of female Amapiano artists in 2023 compared to 2022.
Despite the effort, passion, skills, and talent that women have and continue to contribute to Amapiano's success, Spotify data shows that the top 10 most-streamed Amapiano artists are still men.
There are challenges that women in the global music sector face, which in the context of South Africa's youngest dance music style have become unique to South African music. To meet these challenges and work toward solutions, it is helpful for them to see positive examples of women whose careers dispel preconceived ideas about women in music. Also, creative solutions can be applied to. Indeed, the voices of women in Amapiano must be supported, celebrated, and amplified.
There is limited knowledge of female Amapiano producers during Amapiano's early development. When most Amapiano songs being released were instrumental, women were part of a core audience that attended events, shared the music, and advocated for the style within and outside of Amapiano circles. These contributions might be unknown, but it's vital that they're not ignored.
When Amapiano songs began including vocals, female vocalists played an important role in composing catchy choruses and creating phrases that the growing movement could rally behind. Kamo Mphela and Bontle Smith directed the aspirant ethos of Amapiano to Sandton when they sang, Ba re shebile, ba re galela, chomi areyeng Sandton, the chorus on the 2019 Sandton release by Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa. Similarly, Sandy Mrd captured the aspirations of many young South Africans when she sang on Dubai and also created a catchphrase that is still popular half a decade later.
Sha Sha's Tender Love has amassed more than 6.5 million listens on Spotify since its 2019 release, and her vocal presence on subsequent Amapiano releases is emblematic of a shift toward mainstream acceptance. Her singing exerts an identifiable influence on today's Amapiano singers.
The successful career trajectories of DBN Gogo, Kamo Mphela, and Uncle Waffles in particular demonstrate how taking the lead on releases has been extemporaneous with that of the Amapiano movement in South Africa and globally.
In 2022, DBN Gogo became a Spotify RADAR artist, enjoying editorial support, marketing, and promotion of her music locally and abroad. Her subsequent being named EQUAL Africa's March Ambassador and mint's Artists To Watch for 2024, alongside Uncle Waffles, proved to be a testament to the power of women in Amapiano.
Today, DBN Gogo has five tracks that have contributed to the export of Amapiano to various territories around the world. When it all began, DBN Gogo told Bubblegumclub, we never expected it to blow up the way it did. Piano was for us, and now it's literally for the world. I wish I could look into the future and tell you exactly how crazy it's going to be, but I have to wait and see just like everyone else. Today, uMa ka Ma (mother's mother), as she is known to fans, is headlining major events on the global dance music circuit.
Kamo Mphela not only channeled her popularity as a dancer on social media platforms to global musical success, but she also laid a pipeline for other women to follow. Reflecting on the role that technology has played in her career, Mphela says, Now technology has made it possible for you to be a boss girl without a male cosign. At first it was always about girls singing about going to Dubai. Now people are singing (scat) on a song. With 2023's Dalie, Mphela secured a top 10 all-time Amapiano song on Spotify. She is also in the top 20 of Spotify's most-streamed Amapiano artists from the past decade.
Uncle Waffles has helped dispel the sexist ideas about women being able to hold their own behind the decks. Since her career-launching viral moment where she's DJing an event that had partygoers enthusiastically chanting, Waffles, we want to party, she has demonstrated talent and grit, and become a sought-after DJ in the U.S., Western Europe, and the U.K. She has also become a successful artist, with two tracks, Yahyuppiyah (ft. Pcee, EeQue & Chley) and Tanzania (ft. Sino Msolo and Boibizza), that have helped export Amapiano to the world.
The female pioneers of the Amapiano movement have put paid to bigoted ideas about perseverance, musical skills, and the work ethic women have. And as the women in Amapiano amass accolades and reach new heights, they inspire the younger generation of female artists that now know whatever they dream is possible.
Most recent headlines
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
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
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
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
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...