Amapiano Artists Who Made Headlines In 2021. With amapiano being the hottest and biggest genre in Mzansi St the moment, it has seen artists jumping into the genre and becoming a success. Even during the pandemic, amapiano, a bright, jazzy dance music culled from local house flavors and global R&B, has persisted as the country’s top genre.
Check out these amapiano artists who made headlines this year:
Focalistic
Focalistic’s rise over the last few years has been meteoric. His style has changed significantly since he emerged as an excitable and ambitious boom bap rapper a few years ago. Aside from the release of the hip-hop single Never Know, featuring SA’s heavyweight rapper Cassper Nyovest in early 2020, he’s shifted from hip-hop and embraced the emergence of Amapiano with a slew of hits alongside fellow Amapiano stars DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, and regular collaborations with just about everyone else leading the genres charge to the mainstream. The star made headlines this year when he announced his collaboration with Nigerian musician Davido on the remix of Ke Star. He also made headlines when his song was being danced to by American stars like P Diddy, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. His songs also made it to the global billboard charts, which is a huge milestone to celebrate for the star.
Kamo Mphela
Kamo Mphela made South Africa proud this year when she performed at one of the biggest music festivals in the UK. The South African singer took the stage at the Ama fest to take the Amapiano sound abroad and it was well-received. Kamo who was born and raised in Durban is known for her exceptional dancing and singing so this reception is no surprise as it is partly due to her performance which was energetic, fun, and full of dancing. This can be seen on her Instagram page where she has posted a video clip of the show and she can be seen dancing to her song titled Nkulunkulu
Uncle Vinny
MTV Base’s newest VJ, Uncle Vinny, shocked many people on social media on 24 April 2021, after filling the streets of Braamfontein, Joburg. This as the entertainer, whose real name is Kabelo Vincent Ndlovu, was celebrating his 19th birthday at the Neighbourgoods Market. His fans took to the streets of Braamfontein and filled them while waiting to get into the venue. Streets were crowded as what was meant to be a normal party turned into a block party. The situation got worse to a point where the police had to arrive at the scene. Most people, including celebs DJ Tira, Lasizwe and Cassper Nyovest, applauded Vinny for having a huge fanbase.
Uncle Waffles
Social media was a hype over up-and-coming female DJ Uncle Waffles’ infectious dance moves. The DJ posted a video dancing while she was deejaying in front of a delirious sold-out show. The video had over 5 million views, which made the star trend and even gain a following from Canadian rapper Drake.
Killer Kau and Mpura
Amapiano artists Mpura and Killer Kau made headlines this year, and unfortunately for bad news. The two died after being involved in a car accident while travelling en route to a concert in Rustenburg, South Africa on 7th August. Early reports from the incident claimed another of the scene’s brightest stars, Kabza De Small, had also been killed, but the artist took to Twitter to confirm this was inaccurate. According to Times Live, in total six people died in the head-on collision, including emerging artists Khanya “The Voice” Hadebe, DJ Thando Tot, and TD. Since the news broke tributes have been pouring in from the Amapiano and global music communities.
