It has only been a few years since the AmaPiano genre was predominantly focused in the townships finding favour in the popular pubs and taverns around Gauteng. At that point, the sound then considered underground music, was shared more commonly through messaging apps before it found its way into the mainstream and was subsequently taken up by the broader music industry.
As popularity and demand for the genre grew, Spotify says it saw an opportunity to invest in local rising talent and officially launch its flagship AmaPiano playlist, AmaPiano Grooves in 2019. The introduction of the playlist was an exciting opportunity to garner international attention, and drive reach and momentum for the local genre globally.
Beyond the continued support of this flagship playlist, Spotify has further used the power of its platform to amplify AmaPiano artists through global campaigns like the African Heat campaign that was set to Focalistic’s hit Ke Star and also featured emerging AmaPiano artist Lady Du. These artists were also spotlighted on Spotify billboards in New York City and Toronto taking pina tsa ko kasi to the world.
Fast-forward to the present day and the global domination of AmaPiano continues to be one for the history books. From the genre’s hitmakers collaborating with fellow African creators for successes like the Ke Star (Remix) featuring Nigerian superstar DaVido, to AmaPiano King Kabza De Small claiming the third spot after Drake and Juice WRLD as one of the country’s most streamed artists of 2020, to the genre’s fraternity touring across continents for events such as the AMA (AmaPiano) Fest in the UK and going on to perform in the UAE and USA.
Through all of this, the AmaPiano Grooves playlist, which is constantly updated with the latest tracks making waves locally and abroad, has been an instrumental vehicle in showcasing the proudly local genre to a culturally diverse streaming audience across 178 markets, driving the discovery and celebration of African creators and sounds, globally.
Spotify recently released data that showcases the growth of the flagship playlist and how this has helped drive the popularity of the genre. In the past year, the AmaPiano Grooves playlist garnered a 622% streaming increase in South Africa and over 4.7 million hours of the playlist have streamed since its inception in 2019.
The data has also revealed that after South Africa, the UK and the United States were the countries that streamed the AmaPiano Grooves playlist the most over the period.
The top streamed tracks leading the playlist were Ke Star by Focalistic, Vigro Deep at number one followed by Tester by Daliwonga, King Monada and Blecke by Focalistic, JazziDisciples in the second and third spots respectively.
Not surprisingly, Kabza De Small took the most-streamed artists’ spot on the list with DJ Maphorisa coming in second and Focalistic rounding off the top three most streamed artists on the playlist.
Below is the complete list of the countries streaming AmaPiano Grooves playlist and the top streamed artists and tracks on the flagship playlist.
Top 10 countries streaming the AmaPiano Grooves playlist in the last year
- South Africa
- UK
- USA
- Mozambique
- Kenya
- Botswana
- Namibia
- Zimbabwe
- Canada
- Tanzania
Top 10 streamed artists on the AmaPiano Grooves playlist in the last year
- Kabza De Small
- DJ Maphorisa
- Focalistic
- Mfr Souls
- Aymos
- Semi Tee
- The Lowkeys
- JazziDisciples
- Daliwonga
- Major League DJz
Top 10 streamed tracks on the AmaPiano Grooves playlist in the last year
- Ke Star (feat. Vigro Deep) by Focalistic, Vigro Deep
- Tester (feat. King Monada) by Daliwonga, King Monada
- Blecke (feat. JazziDisciples) by Focalistic, JazziDisciples
- Phumelela by DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, MaWhoo, Myztro
- Masupa by Kabza De Small, Focalistic, Madumane, Bongza
- Gugu (Radio Edit) (feat. Swartspeare) by Shizo, Swartspeare, The Lowkeys
- Stolen Goods by The Lowkeys
- Ub’Ukhona (feat. ShaSha) by Aymos, Mas Musiq, Sha Sha
- Monday to Sunday by Manqonqo
- Zaka by DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Mas Musiq, Aymos