Afropiano is a form of Afrobeats that emerged in the late 2010s. Developing under heavy influence from the then-trending South African genre of Amapiano, afropiano has since often been regarded as a style helping to bridge two distant corners of Africa, merging the popular sound of Nigeria (and other West African countries) with popular South African music. Afropiano blends the easy-going, poppy, and melodic afrobeats sound and rhythms with major amapiano elements, like lush, jazzy, and laid-back atmospheres often featuring light piano chords.
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Afropiano is a form of Afrobeats that emerged in the late 2010s. Developing under heavy influence from the then-trending South African genre of Amapiano, afropiano has since often been regarded as a style helping to bridge two distant corners of Africa, merging the popular sound of Nigeria (and other West African countries) with popular South African music. Afropiano blends the easy-going, poppy, and melodic afrobeats sound and rhythms with major amapiano elements, like lush, jazzy, and laid-back atmospheres often featuring light piano chords. The resulting sound is often slower and more delicate from afrobeats, but also poppier and less rhythm-focused than amapiano.
Earlier examples of afrobeats mixing with South African music, that preceed afropiano's emergence, include many artists who combined poppy West African music with other genres like Afro House, Gqom, and Kwaito, such as Nigerian singer Niniola's House-inspired work, including singles like "Ibadi" and "Shaba". The genre would properly establish itself in the early 2020s, beginning with collaborations of amapiano producers like Kabza de Small, who began to work with Nigerian musicians, notably in the song "Sponono". KDDO's hit "eWallet" which blends afrobeats rhythms and Pop accessibility with amapiano production, was a major early afropiano hit. Master KG's gqom hit "Jerusalema", which spawned a remix of afrobeats star Burna Boy ("Jerusalema [Remix]") similarly attracted attention to popular South African music in the Nigerian afrobeats scene.
First starting with sporadic examples, like Mayorkun's "Of Lagos" and Rema's "Woman", where artists only added amapiano influences to their afrobeats repertoire, afropiano would shoot to popularity in 2021, quickly becoming an industry standard and a common sound. The rise of afropiano has also been scene as a rise of a never-seen-before Nigerian house trend, even sweeping afrobeats veterans like Davido, whose 2020 project A Better Time featured many amapiano-inspired tracks. Rappers would join the trend too, like Igbo Phyno's hits "High Way" and "Egbon". South African vocalists would enjoy rising popularity outside the country, with Sho Madjozi, Busiswa, and many other South African artists collaborating with Nigerian pop stars.
