South Africa is known for exporting a lot of things like wine and gold, but in recent years, it started exporting a sound that no one knew would change the partying lifestyle of the world. Since 2019, Amapiano has emerged commercially as one of Africa’s hottest exports. It’s the latest South African music genre to see its artistes on the global stage, with streams outside of Sub-Saharan Africa growing more than 563% on Spotify in the past two years, and with over one billion global all time streams to date. There are no professional Amapiano DJs or artistes in Rwanda, but the sound is currently sweeping streets of the country and dominating playlists of local DJs who have mastered other genres of music like Dancehall, Afrobeats, HipHop and many others. It is almost impossible to go for a night out or a party and go home without experiencing at least a 30-minute session of only Amapiano music, a move that was impossible before 2020. At least five big Amapiano DJs including the likes of Uncle Waffles and Major League DJs have staged in Rwanda in the last 12 months. Seeping out of car windows and overflowing from clubs, Amapiano is more than a genre of music – it is influencing style and dance and making an impact on Rwanda’s music industry. How did it win the hearts of Rwandans so fast? Speaking to The New Times, Alpha Bugingo, one of the Amapiano fans based in Kigali, said that the first time he heard of Amapiano was in 2020 and he immediately noticed that it was going to be the next big thing in Rwanda’s music industry. By then, he said, the Scorpion King duo of South Africa made up of Maphorisa and Kabza, was the only one trending for producing the sub-genre but after a few days, every dope DJ on the continent jumped on it. “During lockdown most deejays were doing live sessions on Instagram in their homes and that’s how the genre started coming to Rwanda. After the lockdown, I went to Choma’d Bar in Kigali and Amapiano had started driving crowds crazy. You could tell it was going to have a huge impact in Rwanda,” Bugingo said. Asked if Amapiano would come and leave as other styles of music did in the past, he said that Rwandans are becoming more interested in Amapiano. “The sound is steadily growing and more than ever, Rwandan artistes and DJs have started producing this genre. They now know how to create a beat in this style and create a hit from it,” he said, adding that even the new song dubbed 'Ntagotwa' trending in Rwanda has Amapiano in its making. One of the first producers of Amapiano in Rwanda, Christian Hirwa best known as Kavumbi Dust, believes that Amapiano is a trend which is why Rwandans are connecting with it. Another thing, he said, TikTok has made it easy for Rwandans to access different Amapiano sounds and video challenges which are key marketing tools of the genre. “We haven’t seen a local music genre take over a platform in this kind of huge escalation in a very long time,” he said, adding that in 2021, videos using the hashtag #Amapiano on TikTok had more than 1.6 billion global views. According to DJ Pyfo, a top DJ in Kigali, the increase in popularity of this music genre can be traced through its beats that people vibe to even without vocal appearance. “During the lockdown, people were able to discover new things through social Media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Amapiano dance moves attracted a bigger audience including Rwandans,” he told The New Times. Pyfo believes that Amapiano is melodically lovable because most of its songs do not concentrate on lyrics but just create heavy beats that provide a good mood for its listeners. “The world needed a new sound which is why many people appreciated its emergence. The dances are also a bit unique, which is something that a large number of people love,” he added. Origin Originally from South Africa, the sound is believed to have been first created in 2012 by fussing popular genres like Kwaito, lounge and jazz and deep house music. The music then caught on signature dance moves characterised by a blend of cultural dances native to different parts of Africa. The sound is irresistibly catchy and made up of distinct synths, airy pads, wide bass lines and percussions. The wave swept into Rwanda amidst the pandemic in 2020. Rwandan musicians have released their own Amapiano songs such as Kevin Klein’s Amanywa N'ijoro, , ‘Feri’ by Saxon and ‘Mundemera’ by DJ Marnaud among many others. Other artistes across East Africa who have also released Amapiano songs include Diamond Platnumz, Rayvanny and Nandy. All these projects got an impressive reception online.
