Now that I have working search on this here blog I can ask questions like, “Have I ever mentioned amapiano music?” And as of this moment, the answer is “no”.
Let’s fix that.
Here’s the intro paragraph on amapiano from Wikipedia
Amapiano is a genre of music from South Africa that became popular in mid-2012 with an earlier regular occurrence on South African radio stations in the early 2000s. It is a hybrid of kwaito, deep house, gqom, jazz, soul, and lounge music characterized by synths and wide, percussive basslines. The word “amapiano” derives from the IsiZulu word for “pianos”.
I can’t pinpoint an exact moment, but it most likely was a few years ago coming out of the pandemic where I first bumped into the genre. YouTube tags me as streaming this video of TxC playing Boiler Room London four years ago. I’m pretty sure that was the first hit because I was also somewhat astounded that I’d sit through an hour long video of a dj session. Or at least have it on in the background. Also, TxC are definitely a hot look on stage. Last but not least that was likely my intro to Boiler Room which will get a whole post of its own someday.
I’m still a House and DnB guy in the main, but I’m always game to toss in an amapiano mix discovery on Apple Music, which does some curation and promotion of the form, or anything eye catching from Boiler Room. Since amapiano partially derives from House this makes complete sense. Connecting with the African continent is a cherry on top.
Highly recommended.