The 7 best Amapiano tracks of all time
Amapiano
Gauteng's deep-house descendant, built on jazzy piano chords, shuffling percussion and a bending synthetic bass note called the log drum. Slow, spacious, endlessly extendable, and by the twenties the most exported South African music ever made.
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Kabza De Small featuring Leehleza / Umshove
One of the first amapiano tracks to carry a vocal, and the one that introduced most South Africans to the genre and to its most prolific producer. The log drum arrives fully formed.
Focalistic featuring Vigro Deep / Ke Star
Sepedi rap over a piano loop, and the record that made amapiano continental rather than national. The bassline does almost nothing and is the whole reason it works.
MFR Souls featuring Major League Djz, Kamo Mphela and Bontle Smith / Amanikiniki
By a duo some credit with naming the genre. Platinum in South Africa, and a good demonstration that amapiano's hooks are usually carried by the dancers rather than the singer.
Young Stunna featuring Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa / Adiwele
The vocal record that proved the form could carry real singing without speeding up. Notumato is the album most likely to survive as the genre's canonical statement.
Mr JazziQ featuring Lady Du, Kabza De Small and Boohle / Woza
Amapiano at its most extroverted — five names on the credit, a chant instead of a chorus, and an arrangement that keeps handing the track to somebody else.
Semi Tee featuring Miano and Kammu Dee / Labantwana Ama Uber
An early landmark, and the point where the log drum stops being one sound among several and becomes the thing the whole arrangement is built to display.
Tyler ICU & Tumelo ZA / Mnike
Number one in South Africa and unavoidable everywhere else within a month. Ten years after the genre started, its biggest record is still built from a loop, a chant and a bending bass note.