Scorpion Kings Open Up About Individually Owning The Rights To Their Music. Maphorisa, who’s long earned his belt for pumping out hits for almost a decade — from Uhuru’s “Y-tjukutja” and Mafikizolo’s “Khona” to his own “Oncamnce” featuring Stilo Magolide, Kwesta and Zingah — has been in the music industry for over two decades. His studio has become a legendary haven for artists, both up-and-coming and established, that pass through it — including Kabza De Small, whose I Am The King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust helped introduce amapiano to a wider audience.
Scorpion Kings recently announced their EP and much anticipated live Sun Arena event at Time Square. Since then, the duo has been a hot topic on social media. They also shared how important it is to individually own their music rights. Maphorisa: “I come from deals where I didn’t own my music, and over the years I saw the value of ownership. For me it’s important to own what I created, it obviously comes with a lot of work because you don’t have “big machine” support. But it’s worth it in the long run.”
Kabza: “I was actually taught by Maphorisa, he showed me the value and how important it is — all the music I’ve released I’ve owned and I don’t regret it. I’ve come to learn you can work with majors in various ways and still win your music rights. It has worked for us.”
Speaking on how they see amapiano developing, Maphorisa said: “Amapiano hasn’t even reached its full potential globally, the genre has so many variations at the moment, eg. “Sgija”, and “Tech” piano that is already crossing over but regardless it will always be amapiano. It’s a genre that can adapt to many spaces and still remain true to its original sound, that’s the power that will lead the genre to world domination. As I said, it’s only the beginning, and thus far its reach has exceeded our expectations.”
Kabza on the other hand said: “Amapiano in its own right has sounds that can adapt in different markets. Its strength really lies in its ability to change but still be Amapiano – it’s a sound that will break in so many regions. I’m really excited for the subgenre “Sgija” to fully catch the wind in the world cause that sound has the potential to really hit world domination.”
