Popular digital music service and streaming app Spotify recently partnered with South African Tourism to host media and influencers from across the continent on an Amapiano tourism experience.
The tour aimed to share the roots of the genre, the power of collaborations and how streaming is helping to export local music to the world. Amapiano is arguably South Africa’s most popular cultural export at the moment.
Designed around some of Spotify’s most popular Amapiano playlists, the tour highlighted South African and Amapiano culture for guests from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.
The experience started off with Amapiano 101 – detailing the background of the genre, and giving guests a tour of its origins in townships like Mamelodi, but also exploring other popular Amapiano spots in Soweto.
The Amapiano Grooves segment of the tour showcased the impact of clubs on the music. It is also Spotify's biggest Amapiano playlist and is most popular among 18- to 24-year-olds, with listeners hailing from South Africa, UK, USA, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The tour also told a cultural story, like Mogodu Monday – the tradition of celebrating the least popular day of the week with Mogodu (tripe) and music and gives participants the opportunity to meet with local artists in the studio and see where the music happens.
MD of Spotify in sub-Saharan Africa, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, said: “Amapiano's unique sound and infectious beats have captivated audiences around the world, and are sure to keep fans dancing for years to come. As more artists emerge and push the boundaries of the genre, there is no doubt that Amapiano is set to become a mainstay in the global music scene.”
One of the top five exported Amapiano artists in South Africa, Focalistic, dropped by for the first leg of the tour at one of the birthplaces of Amapiano, Jack Buhda in Mamelodi, to share the genre’s origin story.
“We would come here and listen to Amapiano sets for three hours. We wanted to escape from the noise and do our own thing as Africans, speak in our tongue. Amapiano makes an imprint, it’s emotions. Amapiano is spiritual,” said the Champion Sounds artist.
Spotify data tells the story of just how popular Amapiano is right now, both at home and all around the world – with close to two billion streams last year, representing a 143% increase year on year.
The genre has garnered a huge following, with more than 240K playlists featuring Amapiano in the title and over 10 million playlists featuring at least one Amapiano track. Over 40% of Amapiano streams come from listeners outside South Africa.
