Maphorisa On Making Amapiano More Accessible Than Gqom. Themba Sekowe, better known as Maphorisa, has long earned his belt for pumping out hits for almost a decade. He might seem like an overnight success, but his fans know that Maphorisa has been around for some time. With amapiano being the biggest sound at the moment, he is one of the many artists who helped introduce amapiano to a wider audience and grow to what it is today.
Speaking on making amapiano more accessible to gqom, Phori said: “At some point, I knew that gqom would reach its sell-by date because it was fast-paced and dark. I find that once a genre becomes dark, the songs end up sounding the same. Gqom was dope but I also felt like it was, only, for certain people. However, with amapiano, I realised quite early on that there was a lot that we could do with it.”
“Amapiano was a term that we used to diss a song that didn’t fit neatly into the gqom or house music categories, which were the popping mainstream sounds back then. At some point, amapiano really sounded ratchet and too jazzy, especially to fans of deep house music, he added.
His studio has become a legendary haven for artists, both up-and-coming and established, that pass through it He has been producing track from Uhuru’s “Y-tjukutja” and Mafikizolo’s “Khona” to his own “Oncamnce” featuring Stilo Magolide, Kwesta and Zingah. “People actually don’t know but I’ve been in the industry for over 10 years and I feel only now I’m becoming the artist I used to dream of becoming. So those who have joined the journey now, they aren’t late,” he opened up.
