South Africans just can’t get enough of Amapiano. Global music streaming service, Deezer, has released its latest figures, revealing that Amapiano music is currently the number one streamed playlist in South Africa in 2021, seeing a 115% increase in total streams.
The local homegrown genre is also sweeping the globe, with the biggest spike coming from the US with a 684% increase in streams followed by France with 368%.
In addition to its growing worldwide popularity, this rhythmic sound, made up of deep house, kwaito, gqom, and jazz, has become a popular choice for content creators on video-sharing platforms. The Amapiano hashtag, for instance, has generated over one billion views on TikTok in 2021, and some of the video platform’s content creators recently collaborated to release their first-ever Amapiano song.
To support this rapid growth, Deezer unveiled a new Amapiano collaboration with well-known TikTokcontent creators, including Chad Jones and Mpho Pink, to support local South African Amapiano artists.
Deezer is giving TikTok content creators exclusive access to chart-topping Amapiano hits includingUngangi Bambi by Mr Jazziq and Messiah by DJ Emotionz. Each creator is encouraged to freestyle and dance as they like to express the joy they feel when they hear Amapiano
“Amapiano music is changing the whole game,” says Mr Jazziq. “Working with content creators like Khanyisa, who can pull high numbers on TikTok and have amazing energy, is what makes music like Ungangi Bambi such a success on streaming services like Deezer.”
“I think the tempo of Amapiano has had a huge impact on its success. Everyone can relate to it, and it unites us as musicians, who can put in the work to grow the genre and take it to the world,” adds Emotionz DJ.
“We see a high demand for the Amapiano genre on Deezer, across the globe, so we’re thrilled to be collaborating with some of the most influential TikTok content creators to help drive this growth even further,” says Sotiris Moldovanos, music editor for Africa at Deezer. “We’re not only giving these creators exclusive access to the country’s most streamed Amapiano music, but we’re also putting South African artists on the global stage.”
Watch Deezer’s Amapiano dance videos on TikTok here.
