The second wave of Amapiano: emerging producers and the risks of exploitation – Reports

Listeners of amapiano living in the Global North may struggle to grasp the extent of inequalities in South African society. Although villages are often mentioned in writings about amapiano, the genre is associated with money and glamour, particularly for international audiences. Major League DJz’s standout “Balcony Mix” series features the two brothers playing in luxury settings around the world – on hotel rooftops, beside huge swimming pools or in flashy homes, with the DJs and their entourage dressed in designer clothes.³

If amapiano emerges from the townships, where so many people are struggling economically, why are these images of luxury and economic success so prominent? To begin to answer this question, it is important to understand South Africa’s “black diamonds.” The phrase “black diamond” is used to describe wealthy members of the country’s socially and economically mobile black middle class. In his book The Kwaito PromiseGavin Steingo describes how successful musicians of the kwaito era became black diamonds, moving from townships to suburbs but remaining closely linked to the townships through family, ceremonies and casual visits. As black-run labels began to operate in the post-apartheid years, middle-class black South Africans coordinated the musical output of township people.

Read this next: How Amapian Innovations Emerge from Black South African Culture

In amapiano, established musicians also take on an organizing and coordinating role with emerging producers. Some of these musicians may come from a rural background, having previously found success in amapiano or other genres. Others are already part of South Africa’s middle class because of their family background. Many invite younger artists from townships to produce tracks for them with the intention of presenting them as features or collaborations—something of a mix of ghost production and the kind of artist curation once done by record label managers. But I was told that in some cases, the already-famous artist either doesn’t pay the featured artist(s) fairly, or passes off the track as their own work, without properly crediting or paying additional producers.

One artist I spoke to (who preferred to remain anonymous) was scammed by a well-known Amapiano artist when he didn’t have a contract specifying what he had produced and what percentage he was entitled to. This is a recurring problem. “People promise you they’ll sign you, but they don’t want to pay for your beats,” he tells me. “I know a lot of guys with great songs, but they haven’t received any money from them because there’s nothing on paper. You can’t really prove that you were part of that song that has that platinum status.”

Kooldrink tells me that “showboating” – presenting an image of luxury and financial success – is part of the Black Diamond lifestyle in South Africa. He accuses certain unscrupulous artists of using this to attract younger, less privileged producers to work with them. “Black Diamond producers have big houses in rich suburbs like Midrand in Johannesburg. They go out and find kids, people who are 17, 18, 19, and they say, ‘Hey guys, all four of you, I see you making music in the township. Come stay with me for a year, come live at my house.’

“These kids get taken from the township where they’ve never seen the Black Diamond life. The artist tells them, ‘You four are going to stay in my mansion, you can have everything you want, people on TikTok are going to see you rolling with me and you’re going to become the cool guy. And you just have to make music.’”