# Amapiano

> Amapiano - isiZulu for 'the pianos' - is a house-descended South African genre that emerged from the townships of Gauteng province, principally Pretoria and Johannesburg (Soweto, Katlehong, Vosloorus), in the mid-2010s.

- **Type:** Genre
- **Canonical URL:** https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/amapiano
- **JSON:** https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/api/topics/amapiano.json
- **Era:** mid-2010s (c. 2012-2016 emergence; 2019-2020 breakout)
- **Place:** Pretoria and Johannesburg townships, Gauteng, South Africa
- **Confidence:** 72/100
- **Last verified:** June 10, 2026

## Amapiano

Amapiano - isiZulu for 'the pianos' - is a house-descended South African genre that emerged from the townships of Gauteng province, principally Pretoria and Johannesburg (Soweto, Katlehong, Vosloorus), in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house and kwaito, layered with jazzy piano chords, wide synth pads, soul, lounge textures and percussive, syncopated grooves typically around 110-115 BPM - noticeably slower than most house. Its roots run deep in South African Black music history: kwaito (a slowed, chant-led 1990s township style itself born from bubblegum pop and imported house) supplied the cultural template, while Pretoria's hyper-local 'Bacardi' (Bacardi Pitori) sound - raw, woody, percussion-driven - gave amapiano its distinctive bounce. Early producers built piano-and-shaker grooves over deep-house foundations; the genre's defining turning point was the rise of the 'log drum', a wide, melodic percussive bassline popularised around 2018-2019 (notably by MDU aka TRP), which separated mature amapiano from its deep-house origins. Crucial figures include Kabza De Small, the 'King of Amapiano', whose 2018 'Umshove' and partnership with DJ Maphorisa ('Scorpion Kings') drove the sound mainstream; the duo MFR Souls, often credited with naming and shaping it; and a wave of vocalists and producers - Focalistic, Vigro Deep, DBN Gogo, Young Stunna, Tyler ICU - who carried it across South Africa and the continent. Zimbabwe's Sha Sha won the first amapiano-associated BET Award in 2020. By the early 2020s amapiano had gone global, feeding into Afrobeats and even Grammy-winning pop via Tyla. Contested point: origin credit is genuinely disputed between Pretoria and Johannesburg/Soweto camps, and no single founder is universally accepted.

### Origins

**City:** Pretoria and Johannesburg townships, Gauteng  ·  **Country:** South Africa  ·  **Era:** mid-2010s (c. 2012-2016 emergence; 2019-2020 breakout)

### Founders & originators

- **[Kabza De Small](/artist/kabza-de-small)** (South Africa) — Pretoria DJ/producer widely called the 'King of Amapiano'; 2018's 'Umshove' was a breakthrough and he helped pioneer vocal-led amapiano.
- **[MFR Souls](/artist/mfr-souls)** (South Africa) — Duo frequently credited with coining/popularising the genre name and shaping its early sound.
- **[MDU aka TRP](/artist/mdu-aka-trp)** (South Africa) — Producer central to popularising the signature 'log drum' bassline that defines mature amapiano.

### Key venues & labels

`New Money Era (Kabza De Small's label)` · `Piano Hub` · `Blaqboy Music (DJ Maphorisa)` · `YFM and township street/tavern scenes (Pretoria, Soweto, Katlehong)` · `Channel O / SA radio and YouTube/TikTok as breakout platforms`

### Artists who defined & spread it

- **[Kabza De Small](/artist/kabza-de-small)** (South Africa) — 'King of Amapiano'; defining producer and South Africa's most-streamed local artist.
- **[DJ Maphorisa](/artist/dj-maphorisa)** (South Africa) — Veteran hitmaker who pivoted to amapiano, fusing it with Bacardi and pop; 'Scorpion Kings' with Kabza.
- **[MDU aka TRP](/artist/mdu-aka-trp)** (South Africa) — Key to popularising the log-drum sound.
- **[Vigro Deep](/artist/vigro-deep)** (South Africa) — Young Pretoria producer central to the harder 'Bacardi'-rooted log-drum style.
- **[De Mthuda](/artist/de-mthuda)** (South Africa) — Prolific producer in the soulful, jazzy amapiano lane.
- **[Mr JazziQ](/artist/mr-jazziq)** (South Africa) — Producer (ex-JazziDisciples) key to the raw, club-driven sound.
- **[Focalistic](/artist/focalistic)** (South Africa) — Rapper-vocalist who took amapiano international; 'Ke Star' became a continental hit.
- **[DBN Gogo](/artist/dbn-gogo)** (South Africa) — Leading female DJ/producer who helped broaden the genre's audience.
- **[Sha Sha](/artist/sha-sha)** (Zimbabwe) — Zimbabwean vocalist dubbed 'Queen of Amapiano'; first amapiano BET Award winner (2020).
- **[Tyler ICU](/artist/tyler-icu)** (South Africa) — Producer behind major hits including 'Mnike'.
- **[Daliwonga](/artist/daliwonga)** (South Africa) — Vocalist/producer prominent in the genre's commercial wave.
- **[Young Stunna](/artist/young-stunna)** (South Africa) — Vocalist whose 'Adiwele' (with Kabza) defined the soulful vocal era.
- **[Tyla](/artist/tyla)** (South Africa) — Pop-crossover star whose Grammy-winning 'Water' carried amapiano rhythms to global pop.

### How they connect

- Direct hybrid of deep house and kwaito, with jazz piano, soul and lounge textures.
- Rooted in Pretoria's hyper-local 'Bacardi' (Bacardi Pitori) house - syncopated, woody-percussion township sound - which fed amapiano's bounce.
- Kwaito (1990s, derived from bubblegum pop and house) supplied the slow, chant-led township-music heritage.
- Shares ancestry with South African Afro house and gqom; gqom's Durban influence appears in some strains.
- The 'log drum' bassline (popularised by MDU aka TRP) is the genre's signature sonic marker, distinguishing mature amapiano from early piano-led deep house.

### What it influenced

global Afrobeats-adjacent pop (Tyla's 'Water', Asake, Davido collaborations) · UK/Nigerian amapiano scenes and diaspora club culture · 'private school' / soulful amapiano subdivision · mainstream pop production borrowing log-drum and shaker patterns

## Knowledge graph

- **Amapiano** influenced **global Afrobeats-adjacent pop (Tyla's 'Water', Asake, Davido collaborations)**
- **Amapiano** influenced **UK/Nigerian amapiano scenes and diaspora club culture**
- **Amapiano** influenced **'private school' / soulful amapiano subdivision**
- **Amapiano** influenced **mainstream pop production borrowing log-drum and shaker patterns**
- **kabza-de-small** pioneered **Amapiano**
- **mfr-souls** pioneered **Amapiano**
- **mdu-aka-trp** pioneered **Amapiano**
- **kabza-de-small** popularized **Amapiano**
- **dj-maphorisa** popularized **Amapiano**
- **mdu-aka-trp** popularized **Amapiano**
- **vigro-deep** popularized **Amapiano**
- **de-mthuda** popularized **Amapiano**
- **mr-jazziq** popularized **Amapiano**
- **focalistic** popularized **Amapiano**
- **dbn-gogo** popularized **Amapiano**
- **sha-sha** popularized **Amapiano**
- **tyler-icu** popularized **Amapiano**
- **daliwonga** popularized **Amapiano**
- **young-stunna** popularized **Amapiano**
- **tyla** popularized **Amapiano**

## Related

- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/kabza-de-small (or /artist/kabza-de-small)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/mfr-souls (or /artist/mfr-souls)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/mdu-aka-trp (or /artist/mdu-aka-trp)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/dj-maphorisa (or /artist/dj-maphorisa)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/vigro-deep (or /artist/vigro-deep)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/de-mthuda (or /artist/de-mthuda)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/mr-jazziq (or /artist/mr-jazziq)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/focalistic (or /artist/focalistic)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/dbn-gogo (or /artist/dbn-gogo)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/sha-sha (or /artist/sha-sha)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/tyler-icu (or /artist/tyler-icu)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/daliwonga (or /artist/daliwonga)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/young-stunna (or /artist/young-stunna)
- https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/tyla (or /artist/tyla)

## Sources

1. [Wikipedia: Amapiano](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Amapiano%20music%20genre) — General reference
2. [Resident Advisor](https://ra.co) — Scene & artist reference

## How to cite this page

```
House Music Intelligence Database. "Amapiano." Published by World Famous House Crew. Last verified June 10, 2026. URL: https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/topic/amapiano
```

_Part of the [House Music Intelligence Database](https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/) knowledge graph. See [/llms.txt](https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/llms.txt)._