
Photo: Yuvraj Singh on Unsplash
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Are you still catching up on the amapiano genre? If you’re looking for a genre that just about matches your heartbeat, then it might be time to discover more amapiano. While some people look to classical music for divine inspiration, muses can also be hiding in other music genres.
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Somewhere in KwaZulu-Natal, I’ve seen an old-fashioned keyboard standing next to a soccer-styled gambling machine against the wall of a spaza store. Sometimes, the owner plays a couple of chords over the preset backing track while you’re trying to buy cigarettes – and other times, you can hear that the keyboard must have been rented out from one of the local churches, playing fast jazz, or during sermons and exorcisms.
Music is part of everything here, whether it’s in the foreground or somewhere in the back, stretching from maskandi guitar to amapiano. It’s the latter genre that’s caught my attention through several years of listening to taxi music, club beats and house party playlists.
Amapiano is an unmissable music genre, with its roots in KwaZulu-Natal, though with an increasing presence internationally. The name translates to mean “the pianos”, and even the most casual observers will have noticed the genre at some point from club or house party speakers, advertisements or influencers-gone-viral.
Gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson, the author of Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, had a favourite playlist that included “White rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane), “Walk on the wild side” (Lou Reed) and “I smell a rat” (Howlin’ Wolf). Writers love music, sometimes having a backing track over the clicking of their keys, and I wonder what Hunter would have thought of modern amapiano.
Are you still catching up on the amapiano genre? If you’re looking for a genre that just about matches your heartbeat, then it might be time to discover more amapiano. While some people look to classical music for divine inspiration, muses can also be hiding in other music genres – and I’ve been urging more people to delve and discover beat-driven music. Here’s what I learned, following the amapiano beat from KwaZulu-Natal to Queens.
Amapiano genesis
Amapiano achieved fame in the 2010s, brought about by the ingenuity of disc jockeys blending together different genres and techniques to create something new. Hip-hop started in the same way, when new techniques emerged at a family house party, and became its own movement.
Rolling Stone calls the amapiano genre “a fusion of African melodies, hip-hop, reggae and US house, slowed to roughly 105 bpm”. If you’re wondering, most amapiano songs go at just over the average human heartbeat of 100.
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The genre also draws some of its inspiration from kwaito and gqom music, two genres that are heavily driven by beats, mixes and DJs who control their decks like a Ouija board’s planchette – with intuition and feel. Gqom, like amapiano, traces its origins back to KwaZulu-Natal decks.
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Amapiano can be smooth enough to be played in any chill room, but also gets people up and dancing when it gets played on the dance floor. I haven’t danced since my last appearance at a metal club, but that’s what I’ve heard from friends who are more involved in the party scene.
The genre also draws some of its inspiration from kwaito and gqom music, two genres that are heavily driven by beats, mixes and DJs who control their decks like a Ouija board’s planchette – with intuition and feel. Gqom, like amapiano, traces its origins back to KwaZulu-Natal decks – however, gqom is arguably harder and faster, and it can seem like a beat lasts for hours.
Amapiano has spread fast from its point of origin, gaining international attention and coverage by mainstream media outlets like CNN and Spotify. It’s popular enough that you’ll recognise it even if you don’t quite know it yet.
Following the beat
Successful DJ-ing relies on finding the right blend and knowing when to blend what. If that seems easy to anyone who can play an instrument, try finding songs where the key and beats-per-minute are an exact match. More than this, find songs that don’t appear to fit at first, and mess with them until they do. For interest’s sake, readers can look up the beats-per-minute of different songs using tools like SongBPM. Making things work, though, is a whole different skill.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg, I’ve learned so far, of what it takes to compile a beat. Anyone who says that being a DJ doesn’t make a real musician should compare the ease of learning three or four guitar chords with the complexity of trying to figure out how the fuck to create a mix that sounds good. That’s not as easy, and you can’t say a thing until you’ve tried it – both sitting down in front of software, and live-mixing in front of a deck.
Mixing requires coordination of the hands and mind. I’ve learned new appreciation for the skill, which is why I’ve found that listening to some amapiano blends helps keep the beat (like a metronome) when writing. Like people imagine their classical music and Baby Mozart tapes to be doing, music activates different parts of the brain – listening for different instruments, layers and beats. I like listening to the kind of music that tethers the speed of typing to the beat, using it as a metronome for appropriate pauses and thoughts. Sometimes it’s rock, and sometimes it’s an amapiano mix.
The sound worldwide
I’ve lived in the KwaZulu-Natal province for several years, and music is always at the forefront – or playing somewhere in the background. It’s impossible to miss, and this adds to amapiano’s popularity. It pushes you to discover what this song or that backtrack you’ve heard might be. Apps like Shazam have become helpful, allowing you to record (or, in desperate times, whistle or hum) the basics of a tune to find its origin. Eventually, you’ll find a song so catchy that you’ll get out of bed to find out what it’s called.
Amapiano has made its way around the world, partially thanks to artists like Flash.Wrldwide (Lil2Hood) remixing beats with their own flavour. This has made the genre land in Queens, New York, where Flash has credited much of her inspiration to Africa – featured, of course, as part of her canvas of tattoos.
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Amapiano is closely tied to the blues, too. A speed of 105 beats per minute connects to BB King (“How blue can you get”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“Prison blues come down on me”) and Nina Simone (“Trouble in mind”).
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Amapiano is closely tied to the blues, too. A speed of 105 beats per minute connects to BB King (“How blue can you get”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“Prison blues come down on me”) and Nina Simone (“Trouble in mind”). More connections bring up Tracy Chapman’s “Crossroads”, Peter Green’s cover of “Little queen of spades” and the Benny Benassi track “Satisfaction”.
Surprisingly, Die Antwoord’s track Ugly boy isn’t far behind, clocking in at an apparent 102 beats per minute. If you’re impressed by this detail, you’ve seen what Flash.Wrldwide can do with several genres and beats-per-minute rates – and yes, she’s successfully blended together “Satisfaction” with “Smells like teen spirit”.
Have you heard any amapiano tracks featured in something? You will hear the beat soon enough – the genre is everywhere, and you already know the beat as being close to that of your own.
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