Music
Amapiano mutates using an old sound
Amapiano music has broken into the mainstream. The new sound’s mutations may be constant, but some young producers are connecting with the spirit of the past for inspiration
A soft-spoken, sneeringly close to curt 20-year-old from Pheli (Atteridgeville township and surrounds in Pitori[Pretoria]) starts with “Sho” by way of greeting over a crackly line. It’s hard to imagine a lanky Thebelebe Onalenna on the other end as the producer behind the virally popular Amapiano song ‘Jebson’ which seems to have a life of its own.
‘Jebson’ was released in 2019 and was the title track of part 1 of Thebelebe’s first EP. In its most recent episode, the song surfaced for attention when a video of a woman with a whistle improvising over the track at Pheli Chisa Nyama went viral. “First it trended with Sje Konka and Shizo, then with DBN Gogo then the ‘Whistle Girl’. Every time ke nagana nkare e fela maatla (I think that it is losing power),” he explains “go nale motho o a e tsosang gapegape. (there is someone who revives it again and again).”
Every time ke nagana nkare e fela maatla (I think that it is losing power), go nale motho o a e tsosang gapegape (there is someone who revives it again and again).
Thebelebe had had a music video shoot at Something Sosha, an upmarket club in Soshanguve, earlier that day and then played the gig at Pheli Chisa Nyama where the vibe was nothing out of the ordinary, he says. “I was surprised when I woke up in the morning that we were trending on Twitter. We didn't plan it, we didn't know each other.”
Thebe Onalenna Masemola grew up in Saulsville in Pheli with two brothers who were DJs. Music greeted him in the morning and lulled him to sleep at night and by grade seven he was earning his Djing chops, first on Automix, then Virtual DJ before climbing onto CDJs as he grew up.
Beyond the earphones wedged between his ear and shoulder though, Thebelebe’s receptive ear and those of his peers picked up on the sounds of their surroundings. Marching bands popular at weddings and other celebrations in Pitori and other South African townships influenced the way that Thebelebe, Vigro Deep, Sje Konka, Shizo and other Amapiano Pheli producers arrange their drums.
Ditropita
© Setumo-Thebe Mohlomi
Even as Amapiano rose to prominence nationally, he and other Pheli DJs noticed that they needed to cultivate a local sound that would resonate with the punters at their gigs at Mandeli’s Lifestyle, koDede, Lifestyle Café Pheli and other lounges, clubs and chisa nyamas . “People liked Piano but they wanted the Piano from outside, not the local one. The one here is the one that people like Dadaman make, it has some Bacardi in it. It was not mature enough at that time.” Fusing the laidback Johannesburg sound considered superior with the Pitori sound, Thebelebe and his peers are forging a complex and deeply layered Amapiano mutation.
Thebelebe is riding the crest of success, Vigro Deep has scheduled the release of his album under his label Baby Boy 012, The Lowkeys have a new single, ‘Stolen Goods’, out and Freddy K and Sje Konka are gaining popularity with their collaborative EP ‘Shapa Munne’- all in all, the young producers behind Amapiano’s next evolution are poised for an industry breakthrough.
Amapiano is forced to invent, in a near crusade to correct the glitches in the South African cultural economy. Even for the tech-savvy generation, wise to the often exploitative ways of major record labels, there are boundaries to their unlocking the potential and reach of their music. While the mainstream music industry has been forced to recognise underground Amapiano hits and the producers behind them, big pocket brands are still lagging behind the young movement’s influence and the sway that its underground protagonists have. So as Amapiano-era superstars Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, DJ Sumbody, MFR Souls and others are racking in endorsements, younger producers who are inventing their futures are also plotting their revenue streams, one download, piece of merchandise, livestream and appearance at a time.