The rise of Amapiano: Why the South African sound is taking over

Screengrab from one of Vuli Gate's dance craze videos [Photo: Courtesy]

There has been a major foreign takeover in the local airwaves. No, we are not talking about the pandemic or another grotesque strain of flu (God forbid). This is an allusion to the utter infiltration that Amapiano-a music genre of South African descent, has done to the Kenyan music scene. The decorated genre is hailed as a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterised by synths, airy pads and wide, percussive bass-lines.

While the style is said to have originally sprung out in 2012, it was not until 2020 that it blew up the continent over with reported exponential increases in streams, downloads and overall consumption. As is characteristic of the Kenyan music scene, the reception to the genre has been utterly profound, with urban radio stations, recreational joints according Amapiano hits massive airplay.