Who Is The King Of Amapiano?
There has been an endless tug of war to the title, ‘king’ of Amapiano. A lot of talented artist spread over south Africa has contributed their quota in the ever rising wave of the genre to leave their foot prints in the sands of time in the music world, give their name the recognition at the mention of the musical genre. No doubt every artists out there put in the work and deserve every flower of praise they get throughout their career.
Amapiano is special, and it has been regarded as the heartbeat of the youths of south Africa. It has a special sound featuring bright and airy chords. The Kwaito basslines has taken over the music entertainment industry. So many African artists cannot deny the power the beat holds. With each day that passes there’s a new music birth from the beat of Amapiano. The wave of the genre has taken the world at large by surprise with so many artist wanting to tap into the fame of the beat.
Irrespective of numerous artists that has pushed forward the force of Amapiano genre, we cannot overlook the input these pioneers in the Amapiano music. You cannot mention Amapiano without mentioning the legendary duo, kabza De small and DJ Maphorisa aka scorpion kings. The producers and song writers has contributed tremendously to putting Amapiano music in the spotlight.
Kabza De small is a living legend in Amapiano music with over 10 years experience under his belt. He is a producer that is recognized as a giant in the world of Amapiano. He took to the musical genre very early into its rise, when many were sacred to venture into the genre and shied away because of the little recognition of the genre, kabza De small created beautiful masterpieces with the genre. Kabza De small is an household name when it comes to the Amapiano music. He has individually produced various smashing hits that has taken over the music charts. The self proclaim king of Amapiano has definitely lived up to his title.
DJ Maphorisa is one producer many artists dream of working with. He sets the bar high witg every release and has gained the recognition as one of the pioneers of Amapiano music. Although he started off as a singer and songwriter of Gqom, he made a seamless switch to Amapiano music and has since found home in the unique genre, never turning his back ever since then.
The superproducers duo and song writers teaming up to create a force known as scorpion kings, it is no surprise the smashing hits upon hits they leave in their wake. It is very hard and almost impossible to think of Amapiano and not have the Scorpion kings pop to mind. The duo has done massively well for themselves as individual artist and of course as the power duo, scorpion king.
The duo came together for their very first collaboration in 2019 with the hit album ‘scorpion kings’, the album was an almost instant hit, garnering millions of views and streams, topping music charts and gaining various recognitions. With the wonders they created with the album ‘scorpion kings’ and the warm welcome the fans gave to the track album with over 10million views on YouTube during the first month of its release, it is little surprise the duo went further to tease our ear buds with another hit track, ‘Piano Hub’, which of course created huge waves in the music charts. They went further with the ‘return of scorpion kings’ and before the world could realize the duo had their fourth album together titled ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ a collaboration with Congolese born Afrobeat artist, Tresor (a three time winner of the best pop album).
The producer-duo has definitely received the nod of approval from the ever demanding audience of Amapiano music. The bond between the two artist keeps getting strengthened with every song release they make and the fans absolutely love it. Rumble in the jungle was quite a unique one, with the infusion of languages making it stand out.
In April 2019, the duo dare partnered with event organizers Glen21 entertainment to host the their first live concert; ‘scorpion kings live’. Unfortunately to the dismay of thousands of fans across south Africa, the show couldn’t hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fast forward three years later in July 2022 the duo held their very first live concert, this time bigger and better than initially planned, the vula vala hitmakers shared the stage with other talented south African artists such as Ami Faku, young stunna and the rest of the Amapiano best at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria and it was worth every penny spent by the fans. They performed hit tracks like ‘Sandton’, ‘eMcimbini’, ‘Emakhaya’, ‘Beliveki’, ‘Inhliziyo’ amongst many others.
In an interview with DJ Maphorisa, when asked about how the name scorpion king came about, he answered, “we are both November born, kabza is 26th and I am 23rd, both Scorpio. So we thought the name Scorpion kings was really cool”. The talented duo has collaborated with many various recognized artists such as young stunna and the likes.
The team of such great pair has done an amazing job with making a very significant contribution to pioneering the Amapiano music genre over the years. They have crawled so that so many upcoming artists in the field can fly. Their names will forever be recognized at the mention of the music genre. So many up and coming artist look towards these duo has mentors in the musical field and they have earned and deserve every respect they get. As individual artist they have done well in their musical successes and otherwise. As the duo, scorpion kings, they have made the fans marvel at the musical wonders they create.