If you’ve spent any time listening to new dance music in the past few years then you are no doubt aware of the growing phenomenon represented by Amapiano. Typically classed as a sub-type of house music, amapiano originates in South Africa and translates from Zulu to “the pianos”. The genre encompasses a broad spectrum of sounds which range from dark and rhythmic percussive tunes that push the limits of what a sound system can pump out, to bright and sunny, progressive climbing tracks which are profoundly musical, all of which clocks in at roughly 112 BPM. The vocal elements when present can range from sung melodies in various languages as well as rapped lyrics that often shouted (recalling the genre’s roots in the South African hip-hop subgenre of kwaito). Despite the slow speed, amapiano producers use the space between beats to build out and give life to instrumental or percussive flourishes that would otherwise be absorbed by the speed of quicker tunes. The result is often tunes that are simultaneously laid back, but with the possibility (if one dares) to take them faster by doubling the tempo of your dancing, throwing down moves at 200 BPM-plus.

I’m admittedly still only beginning to learn how to distinguish the various styles and elements of the genre and also becoming familiar with the names of some of the major players in this still extremely new scene that is currently taking the world by storm. One of the names I’ve become familiar with over that time has been the London, UK based DJ Kwamzy and it’s their album “Amapiano To The World Vol. 2” that I’m reviewing (and recommending) here.

I originally started looking into amapiano as I was going to be playing a non-rave oriented function and I had come across a number of amapiano remixes of pop songs. After deciding I would try to please the crowd by utilizing that sort of edit in my set, I embarked on a quest of discovery in the genre that has continued to this day. During that initial search, the best find I was able to come up with was the album on review herein. My assessment of the album as one of the best that I’ve heard in the genre still stands at this point more than 8 months on from when I first listened to it.

DJ Kwamzy actually impressed me so much that after learning he would appear at the Boiler Room Toronto function in Summer 2023, I immediately decided to buy tickets despite the fact that I didn’t really know anyone else on the lineup. DJ Kwamzy was brought by AmaProblem, a North American-based amapiano collective. AmaProblem also made waves this summer by taking over a stage at one of the summer additions of Toronto’s Electric Island where they brought other major amapiano stars MajorLeagueDJz. I unfortunately missed out on the second event, but the Boiler Room party impressed on me in a very serious way the uniqueness and the compulsive power of this music to generate movement in crowds. If you want to watch a recording of the set click here for the Youtube video.

When I initially played out my first amapiano set in December 2022, I was impressed by the basslines, popping drums and honestly utterly wild sounds that were coming out of the speakers. Some of the music I was playing sounded completely unlike anything I had ever listened to before. “Amapiano To The World Vol. 2” made a significant impression on me at that time with songs like the opening track “Twisted (feat. Yung D3mz & Avanthay)”, “I Like Your Style (Feat. C Biggz)” and “Beautiful Things (Feat. Ginius)” ending up on repeat in my headphones for a while after the event.

Once I started to dig into the album fully, I found that this collection of eight tracks has everything a person should need to get themselves introduced to the genre of amapiano and provides a small taste of some of the different styles and directions the music can go.

In talking about and assessing this music I’ve found that I consciously sort amapiano tracks into “daytime” and “nighttime” versions. Of those two directions, “Amapiano To The World Vol. 2” sits firmly in the area that I would consider to be daytime amapiano. The “thunk bass” elements that are more heavily featured in other ama-productions are not as prominent here and the album largely lacks to the shout-rapped vocals that characterize many of the tracks elsewhere in the genre. Instead tracks like “Twisted” and “Beautiful Things” are both melodic numbers with sung vocals while tunes like “I Like Your Style” play with subtle keys and rising piano lines which sit slightly behind the percussive aspects of the tracks. The melodies in each of these songs is clear and present, but at the same time it doesn’t form the central focus of the track the way it would in a different style of dance music production.

If DJ Kwamzy does stray into nighttime amapiano territory, then it would be on tracks like “Balcony feat. MOJVKI” or “Busisa feat. Tonic Motion, BuMan, SiphoTheGift & Cozypols”. On each of these tracks you can feel the aesthetic grow slightly darker, with more mournful melodies and urgent basslines that bubble and burst between every precise percussive click, bump and kick.

Overall, my favourite song on the album has to be “Celebrate feat. Sango, CIZA & Anita Jaxson”. With it’s combination of infectious, autotuned raps and melodic vocal hooks which intertwine perfectly with fat basslines and precise percussion. My partner has been listening to this album vicariously through me for about just as long and her preference is for “I Like Your Style”, which to me seems like a fair choice given the absolutely beautiful piano programming that characterizes the opening 4 minutes of that particular tune.

All that said however, this album is full of great tunes and if you are into house music or RnB then it shouldn’t be difficult for you to find some enjoyment in the tracks on offer here. You can purchase the album from DJ Kwamzy’s Bandcamp at the link below:

https://djkwamzyy.bandcamp.com/album/amapiano-to-the-world-vol-2