Aymos Shili Opens Up About His Music Journey That Started In High School. Singer and songwriter Babili Amos Shili, popularly known by his stage name Aymos, has been making amapiano hits and he’s loving the rise of the genre. Born and bred in Tembisa, his fondest memories of music include singing praise and worship at church and leading a choir in high school.
He’s the voice behind hit songs like Risasekile and Bambelela and South Africans have been embracing his music with open arms. He started out by singing at church and in high school, he formed his own choir. “I come from a Christian family, and I grew up singing at church. My siblings would be forced to go to church whether we liked it or not but I ended up finding a reason to go to church, which was singing and playing the piano after church. When I got to high school, I formed a choir and after high school I started working with a lot of local deejays.”
He was so passionate about music that he once took his bus fare for school and bought a keyboard and although he got into trouble for his actions with his parents, they now understand that making music is his calling. He found his big break into the industry after working on a song with Mas Musiq. At the time he was not completely sold on the amapiano genre and was under the impression that it wasn’t musical enough. “We did an amapinao remix of afro soul song Zaka Zaka and it became a hit. That’s when I met DJ Maphorisa and I haven’t looked back ever since.”
Aymos is not just a talented singer, he’s also a father to a boy and a farmer and he believes that more young people should enter the agriculture space. “If it wasn’t for music, I would probably be a farmer full-time. It is a beautiful space for young people to tap into. I understand that young people want interesting things but there are so many exciting things in farming. I would love to encourage others to enter the space and make a change.”
