Amapiano, a Zulu or Xhosa word loosely translated to “the pianos“, is a subgenre of house and Kwaito music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz, and lounge music characterised by synths and wide percussive basslines.
Amapiano is a subgenre of house and Kwaito music. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz, and lounge music characterised by synths and wide percussive basslines.
Amapiano is distinguished by high-pitched piano melodies, Kwaito from South Africa basslines, low tempo 1990s South African house rhythms and percussions from another local subgenre of house known as tribal house.
An important element of the genre is the prevalent use of the “log drum”, a wide percussive bassline, which was popularised by producer MDU aka TRP. According to amapiano pioneer Kabza De Small:
I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how he figured out the log drum. Amapiano music has always been there, but he’s the one who came up with the log drum sound. These boys like experimenting. They always check out new plug-ins. So when MDU figured it out, he ran with it.
The use of percussive basslines in South African house music predates amapiano, and was possibly pioneered by kwaito producer M’Du (also known as Mdu Masilela.)
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