Amapiano, a Nguni word loosely translated to "the pianos", is a South African subgenre of house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz, and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive basslines.
There is ambiguity and debate concerning its origins, with various accounts of the musical styles in the Johannesburg townships. Because it has a small similarities with Bacardi, some people assert the genre began in Pretoria but it remains uncertain. Various accounts as to who formed the popular genre make it impossible to accurately pinpoint its origins.
The word amapiano is a IsiZulu or IsiXhosa, or dipiano is a word loosely translated to "the pianos", The genre is mostly sang in Zulu and Xhosa, Sotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, one of South Africa's native tongues.
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.)
