Amapiano is just a rebranded version of Ghana’s Azonto – Samini.
Ghanaian dancehall artiste Samini has stated that the popular South African music genre Amapiano is essentially a rebranded version of Ghana’s iconic Azonto.
Explaining why he believes the genre takes inspiration from Ghanaian root in a recent interview on Property Fm, Samini emphasised that Amapiano borrows heavily from the composing elements of Azonto, which gained widespread popularity across various countries during its heyday.
While acknowledging that Amapiano originated in South Africa as a subgenre of house music in the mid-2010s, Samini insisted that the similarities between the two genres are too prominent to ignore.
The Sweet Mistake crooner said: “Today if you do Azonto and you add one or two things to it, somebody will say it’s Amapiano, but Amapiano is something which is already South African.”
Despite the parallels, Samini emphasised the distinctiveness of Ghanaian music, asserting, “Amapiano is always going to be South African, so after everybody tried with Azonto, at the end, it’s Ghana that you will connect it to.
So Amapiano will be connected to South Africa, but going forward, Ghana music remains Ghana music.”
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Emmanuel Andrews Samini, known by his stage name Samini, is a Ghanaian reggae and dancehall recording artist from Wa, Ghana.
