Amapiano revealed as SA's most popular music genre

The local homegrown genre is also sweeping the globe, with the biggest spike coming from the US with a 684% increase in streams followed by France with 368%.

In addition to its growing worldwide popularity, this rhythmic sound, made up of deep house, kwaito, gqom and jazz, has become a popular choice for content creators on video-sharing platforms. The Amapiano hashtag, for instance, has generated over one billion views on TikTok in 2021 and some of the video platform's content creators recently collaborated to release their first-ever Amapiano song.

To support this rapid growth, Deezer has unveiled a new Amapiano collaboration with well-known TikTok content creators such as Chad Jones and Mpho Pink to support local South African Amapiano artists.

The collaboration will see the music streaming platform giving TikTok content creators exclusive access to chart-topping Amapiano hits including Ungangi Bambi by Mr Jazziq and Messiah by DJ Emotionz. Each creator will then freestyle and dance as they like to express the joy they feel when they hear Amapiano.

Sotiris Moldovanos, music editor for Africa at Deezer commented: “We see a high demand for the Amapiano genre on Deezer across the globe, so we’re thrilled to be collaborating with some of the most influential TikTok content creators to help drive this growth even further.

We’re not only giving these creators exclusive access to the country’s most streamed Amapiano music, but we’re also putting South African artists on the global stage.”