DJ Maphorisa On His First Amapiano Song Without Kabza De Small. DJ Maphorisa woke up in a very defensive spirit as he addressed rumours and claims about his business with the Amapiano genre. There’s no denying that we cannot remember what life was like when the Scorpion Kings burst onto the scene with their debut album. The Scorpion Kings consisting of DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small dropped The Return of Scorpion Kings album and dominated December last year and the amapiano scene as a whole.
He further talked about how he was interested in the amapiano sub-genre before partnering with Kabza. For years, many South Africans have thought that Maphorisa is rubbing the success of Kabza. However, from his recent description on social media, the music producer had his first piano track in 2017. The DJ and producer also said he has invested in the hot genre for nearly five years. Taking to social media, Maphorisa wrote: “2017 dropped my first amapiano song, n it was not with Kabza been at it. i invested my life with Amapiano almost 5 years dnt come with bullshit”
Speaking on what motivated him to invest in amapiano, Maphorisa said he wanted to understand people’s reactions to the new sound. “What really sparked my interest in the genre was that, at the time, I was looking to get into something that originated in South Africa. Amapiano is part of kwaito and dance music. When I started working with Afrobeats, which hails from Western Africa, I felt that we didn’t have a sound that strongly represented South Africa. When I started paying close attention to amapiano, I knew that this was a sound that would take South Africa to the world. There’s a lot that you can do with amapiano — you can make it soulful, funky, dusty and hard or jazz it up,” Madumane said.
Who is Madumane, you ask? “Madumane is whatever I feel like doing whether it is rap, hip-hop or afrobeat. There are no rules. I love playing with my voice and I decided to name that guy Madumane,” said DJ Maphorisa. DJ Maphorisa has become the amapiano pioneer and hit maker.
As much as he’s had a successful partnership with Kabza, DJ Maphorisa has been in the amapiano scene for quite some time. Speaking on meeting with Kabza, Maphorisa said “Kabza had a hot single at the time, “Umshove,” and I immediately suggested that we work together. His friend also told me how he’d been a huge fan of my music from the Uhuru era. But with amapiano, I didn’t want to interfere much by introducing too many new elements. I was already a fan of the sound. Back at the studio with Kabza, I would study him while he did his thing and then step in where I’m mostly good at — songwriting and recording vocals. We had two different chemistries that benefitted from each other.”
