3 South African Music Genres Waiting to Become the Next Reggaeton

In the age of smartphones, the world has become a much smaller place than ever – and this becomes the most obvious in the case of music. In many areas – especially emerging economies from South America and Africa – smartphones have already successfully replaced radios as the go-to music-playing device. Streaming services like Spotify offer the locals access to the music they like, often pushing their playlists into the spotlight, thus giving local – even hyperlocal – genres a boost around the world.

Remember, Spotify – and music streaming, in general – was instrumental in the insane success of Despacito, Luis Fonsi’s number one hit from 2017. The device you normally use to snap selfies and play a few spins at the Lucky Nugget Online Casino has become one with great influence in the music industry. And the success of Despacito has pushed the local genre reggaeton into the mainstream.

There are many other areas in the world with hyperlocal music genres waiting for their turn to become the next reggaeton. Today, let’s take a look at three of them coming from South Africa.

Kwaito

South Africa was one of the countries through which hip-hop made its way into Africa in the 1980s. And, like in the case of other genres, it got mixed with the traditional local genres – which, in the case of South Africa, are very numerous. Out of this mix, a series of music genres emerged, including Kwaito.

Kwaito is, for lack of a better word, a fusion between dancehall, house, and hip hop with a dash of marabi, kwela, and mbaqanga added for flavour. It contains melodic and percussive loops, deep basslines, and vocals – the lyrics are sung, rapped, and shouted, and the audience often engages actively in the performance, responding to the singer/rapper. Kwaito is traditionally sung in one of the local languages – Afrikaans, Zulu, and English.

Some of the notable kwaito acts of the moment include Mx Blouse, Samthing Soweto, and Nasty C.

Motswako

Motswako is a subgenre of hip hop popular in Botswana and South Africa that is pretty similar to mainstream hip hop except for the lyrics: these are a mix of the rapper’s local language and English. As Motswako emerged in the Northern areas of the country, mixing Setswana and English is the most widespread – some rappers use Zulu, Afrikaans, and other languages, though.

While the language barrier might not allow Motswako to truly go mainstream, South Africa has many notable performers, including award-winning acts like Tuks Senganga and Cassper Nyovest.

Amapiano

Jazz was always a popular genre in South Africa – and it couldn’t avoid spawning modern subgenres across the country. One of them is Amapiano.

Amapiano is a fusion of kwaito, house, techno, drum N bass, and jazz elements. It first became popular in Gauteng, one of South Africa’s provinces, especially in urban areas, as an underground genre. WhatsApp was instrumental in its spread across the country – fans loved to share Amapiano songs through the messaging app – before it was recognized as a bona fide genre by streaming apps like Spotify.

Amapiano is in the process of going mainstream (in South Africa) as we speak, getting ever-increasing air time, dedicated charts, and listeners around the world.

The genre has been made popular lately by performers like Dj Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, and DJ Ganyani.