South African music producer and disc jockey DJ Maphorisa has revisited the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa’s music industries, saying collaborations between artistes from both countries helped create room for Nigerian musicians to embrace Amapiano.
Maphorisa made the remarks while discussing the international growth of the South African-born genre and the longstanding debate over its adoption by Nigerian artistes.
The producer pointed to the 2020 song “Sponono,” which brought together South African acts Kabza De Small and Maphorisa with Nigerian stars Wizkid and Burna Boy, alongside Cassper Nyovest. He described the collaboration as an important moment in the spread of Amapiano beyond South Africa.
“So, doing that, I knew that we gave them a green light to do Amapiano,” Maphorisa said.
According to the producer, the collaboration demonstrated that Nigerian artistes could experiment with the sound and incorporate elements of it into their own musical styles.
His comments come against the backdrop of periodic arguments over whether Nigerian musicians appropriated Amapiano or legitimately adapted the genre into the Afrobeats ecosystem.
Maphorisa appeared to reject the idea that Nigerian artistes simply took the sound without permission. Instead, he presented the relationship as one influenced by collaboration and musical exchange between the two countries.
He also praised Nigerian musicians for their approach to the music business, describing them as “very smart” and “very aggressive.”
The producer further mentioned Nigerian industry figures including Don Jazzy, D’banj, P-Square and Davido as musicians who have influenced him.
Amapiano has since become a major part of Nigeria’s contemporary music landscape, with local artistes blending its characteristic rhythms and production elements with Afrobeats. The sound’s expansion has also produced hybrid styles often described as “Afropiano.”
Maphorisa’s latest comments therefore add another perspective to the continuing conversation about Amapiano’s international growth, highlighting how cross-border collaborations have helped African musicians exchange sounds and reach new audiences.
The debate over who popularised Amapiano in Nigeria may continue, but the producer’s account places collaboration at the centre of the genre’s journey across the continent.
