Beatport Adds South Africa’s Amapiano Genre To Its Platform

Recognizing the expanding South Africa-born genre, Beatport has this week added amapiano to its platform.

Amapiano tracks previously classified as Afro House or Deep House will now be clearly and correctly labeled in Beatport’s download store. The platform is also adding an amapiano chart, which will familiarize the global dance community with amapiano artists including DBN Gogo, Focalistic, and Major League DJz, along with amapiano labels like Jozi Entertainment, Busta 929’s Thupa Industry, and Kabza De Small’s PianoHub.

“Birthed in South Africa’s Black townships in the country’s Gauteng province, the Amapiano music movement borrows from the musical ancestry of the communities in which it was conceived,” Billboard reported last year in a deep dive on the scene, “The name ‘Amapiano’ merges the Zulu language’s plural article, ‘ama’ with the noun for a western musical instrument ‘piano.’ Roughly nine years after the genre’s creation, even the name speaks to a coexistence of African and Western, established and contemporary, influences.”

Beatport will now be able to promote the sound via banners, playlists, and other means. This will result in increased sales for artists and labels and a better customer experience as fans can find music that truly represents the Amapiano culture .”

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Amapiano’s foundations are in Kwaito, music created in the ’90s as South Africa transitioned into democracy. The sound is recognizable by its many elements: Afro, deep house, tech-house and jazz, as well as folk. The result is a combination of these influences and the creative, tech-savvy, and DIY spirit of South Africa’s youngest generation.

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