Focalistic Explains Why He’s Not In Support Of The AfroPiano Wave. Lethabo Sebetso also known as Focalistic gained fame and population after his authentic rap style brought a sense of originality in the music industry. Focalistic’s music has the mass appeal most trap rappers’ doesn’t have in South Africa. Rapping over amapiano beats means he meets the people where they are. Focalistic’s raps are in Sepitori—a vernacular spoken in Pretoria townships made up of a variety of South African languages, mostly Sesotho, Setswana and tsotsitaal (slang).
With amapiano being the biggest sound right now in South Africa, artists from other countries have tried to create a different sub-genre, Afropiano, inspired by amapiano. “One thing I don’t like is Afropiano… Let’s not do that do. Because where amapiano comes from, I think its important that I say this, where amapiano comes from is from people who only had one laptop, no extra piano you know, there’s pioneers, there’s Kabza De Small, JazziDiscipes… these people had nothing. There’s Mdu aka TRP a guy who started from a shack when he started this, and he added the first logdrum. So when we say Afropiano, we taking so much from him, and he can’t be a pioneer of Afropiano when he’s from Soweto and he’s still there. So let’ keep the bond of amapiano that the pioneers still accept it, and these are the people who got me to where I am, you know.
The prolific artist has already worked with artists he used to look up to; the likes of Major League Djz, Emtee, Cassper Nyovest, Vigro Deep, Mr JazziQ, DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small and several more, including Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido, and Tanzanian-musician Diamond Platnumz. He is now of the few amapiano artists who got artists from other counries jump on amapiano.
Speaking on where he got the idea to jump on amapiano, Focalistic explained, “As you can see, this is where I grew up, Ga-Rankuwa. The car that just passed now is playing a house song, one taxi’s playing house music, the next one is playing R&B, the next one is playing something else. Amapiano is from Kwaito, so it was a natural thing. It was never a decision of let me switch bands… people make it like there’s two different genres; hip hop and amapiano, for me it’s never felt like that, it’s one thing; good music.”
