He called his album I Am the King of Amapiano, and few people argued. Kabza De Small, a DJ and producer from Pretoria, became the most influential figure in the genre that took South African townships to dance floors around the world.
Early life
Kabza De Small was born Kabelo Petrus Motha in November 1992 in Mpumalanga and raised in Pretoria. He began DJing in 2009, playing Afro house and electronic dance music before turning to the new sound emerging in Gauteng’s townships.
Amapiano
Amapiano developed in the mid-2010s in townships around Pretoria and Johannesburg. It mixes deep house, jazz, lounge music and kwaito, with piano melodies and the distinctive “log drum” bass. Its slow, rolling grooves are built for long nights of dancing.
Umshove
Kabza’s breakthrough single, “Umshove”, featuring the singer Leehleza, was released in 2018. It spread through clubs and taxis and established him as a leading name in the scene.
Scorpion Kings
With DJ Maphorisa, the producer behind many South African hits, Kabza formed the duo Scorpion Kings. Their 2019 releases, including the album Scorpion Kings and the EP Piano Hub, are widely credited with popularising amapiano across South Africa. Piano Hub went triple platinum in South Africa.
King of Amapiano
In 2020 Kabza released I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust, a long album featuring many vocalists. It won him Male Artist of the Year at the South African Music Awards.
A prolific producer
Kabza is known for releasing large amounts of music, sometimes dozens of tracks at once. He works with many singers and other producers, and his collaborations helped launch other careers.
Amapiano goes global
By the early 2020s, amapiano had spread across Africa and to Europe and America. Nigerian and Ghanaian artists began making amapiano-influenced songs. The log drum became one of the most recognisable sounds in African music.
The log drum
Ask amapiano fans what makes the genre recognisable and most will mention the log drum, a deep, sliding bass sound that bounces under the piano chords. Producers create it with software synthesisers, shaping it so that it rumbles through club speakers and taxi sound systems. Kabza’s productions helped make the log drum the signature of the genre. His tracks often run for six or seven minutes, letting the groove build slowly, with long piano solos and vocal hooks that come and go. That patience, so different from short pop songs built for radio, is one reason amapiano became such a strong club and party music.
Many genres have several founders and no single king. Amapiano has many pioneers, but when the music crossed the world, Kabza De Small’s name went with it.
