THE tug-of-war over the origin of the popular dance music genre amapiano continues to stir up clashes on social media as scores of people weigh in.
It is no secret that the rise of amapiano has given birth to superstars who have thrived after introducing this unique sound to the world.
As more artists continue to gain recognition, there have been clashes about which country owns the music genre, with South Africans coming out with guns blazing to claim ownership.
In the past few years, the much-loved South African dance music has also seen popular artists such as DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small Major League Djz, Uncle Waffles, Njelic, Fellow Lee Tee, Tyler ICU, Daliwonga, Sha Sha, Pabi Cooper, Boohle, Killer Kau, Musa Keys, Lady Du, Mellow, and Sleazy, Busta 929, MFR Souls and De Mthuda among others showcase their artistry beyond South Africa’s shores.
The controversy that saw local personalities weigh in stemmed from a post by an American rapper Swae Lee, who claimed he was introduced to the genre by Nigerians.
Having received a flood of criticism on social media, the rapper cleared the air revealing that he had never mentioned the origins of the genre.
“I never discredited nobody sorry y'all read it that way I never said anything about its origins in that tweet I was just letting my fans know I'm tapped in and been cooking some amapiano-style songs salute to the history of amapiano and the first creators of it I'm not taking that away from anybody much love and stay tuned,” said Swae Lee
“For the ones outraged about the flag I put it because I'm part Nigerian I didn't say anything about the creation of the genre y'all tweaking.”
Bosa leader Mmusi Maimane also shared his sentiments, explaining the importance of protecting the popular genre and calling for Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa to invest in amapiano.
“Protect Amapiano. Our Ministry of Sports, Art and Culture is failing. We have a hot international export product but Zizi Kodwa (is) not investing even though they are konka regulars. They should have been the first to provide funding for amapiano artists to travel abroad and spread this uniquely South African sound.”
“This is how you grow the industry and attract more collaborations. This is how you use music to create more local tourism. We should have American and European artists travelling to the (focal point) of amapiano, namely Pretoria, in the same way that many visited New York and Compton to work with pioneers like DJ Kool Herc.
We must not just nika our artistic work without making sure we retain key over the progress of the sound. We must appreciate how much revenue was created by artists like Bob Marley with reggae. We all know that dancehall and reggae are still proudly Jamaican sounds, first and foremost.” said Maimane
Nota Baloyi also shared his sentiments on social media
“Allowing the Nigerians to stake a claim to amapiano is like saying the pyramids were built by aliens from outer space. They have no good intentions, their Afrobeats has run out of steam & they depend on American features, we have superstars like Tumelo who nobody knew last year.”