Wizkid's New Song Sparks Strong Debates About Amapiano Online
The social media reactions reopened an ongoing conversation about ownership of Amapiano, and Nigerian music’s adaptation of it, with even Davido and Maphorisa weighing in.
Often, Western media is quick to forget Africa is a large continent filled with different countries that preserve their individual qualities and cultures while still contributing to the African continent as a whole.
Wizkid’s latest release "Bad To Me," which caused an uproar yesterday, exhibits issues that can unfold as a result of these misconceptions. The song’s P2J production leans heavily on drums and percussions popularized by South African Amapiano, a sound that’s been taking the world by storm.
Yesterday’s reactions reopened an ongoing conversation about ownership of Amapiano, and Nigerian music’s adaptation of it. South African fans rightfully feel credit should be given to their artists for the genre they’ve popularized. The question that lingers is whether there is, or should be a line between creators and adopters. Even the likes of Davido, DJ Maphorisa, KDDO and May D weighed in.
The broader misconception of lumping together various African places and practices still plays a big role in global perceptions. For example, African music in recent years has been conveyed under the encompassing term Afrobeats, even though a multitude of genres exist across the continent, sometimes coming together to create something a new.
See some of the reactions below.
\u201cDavido brought Amapiano from South Africa two years ago and made it a successful genre in Africa and Beyond, Wizkid is now hopping on the same genre after davido made it a successful genre.\nThis is how many African artists have been benefiting from Davido\u2019s success for over 12yrs\u201d— \ud835\udc11\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc33\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b \ud83d\ude08\u26a1\ufe0f (@\ud835\udc11\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc33\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b \ud83d\ude08\u26a1\ufe0f) 1663111599
\u201cKabza & Maphorisa was the first to put Wizkid n Burnaboy on a amapiano song Sponono dat was a historical moment 3 years ago, research before tweet \n\nalso it was the first time Wiz n Burna jumped on a same song together \n\nlet it sink in \ud83e\udd85\u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Madumane (@Madumane) 1663151972
\u201cYou\u2019ve never liked me y ? I\u2019ve always been good to you \u2026. Anyways ! AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY NOW!!!!!! Chu chu chu chu chu\u201d— Davido (@Davido) 1663160024
\u201cMy brother put on a countless number of artists & producers only for \u201csome\u201d of them to disrespect him! There\u2019s a reason why he\u2019s still here and y\u2019all fell off\u2026.\u201d— ADEWALE ADELEKE (@ADEWALE ADELEKE) 1663162709
\u201cWizkid's new song "Bad To Me" !s n\u00a4t that impressive; Aside from emulating Davido's singing style in the last post-chorus, the song's instrumental is similar to that of Costa Titch's "Big Flexa" & there's noth!ng new in his lyrics. He's top rated but he's n\u00a4t evolving. No shades.\u201d— Daniel Regha (@Daniel Regha) 1663142888
\u201cNa me bring amapiano come naija , and I have awards to prove that! We started the naija South African collaboration! I don\u2019t like saying shit like this but y\u2019all like putting me under the box\u201d— May D (@May D) 1663162717
\u201cI remember @MisterMayD brought Ampiano to Nigeria in a collaboration with Oskido in "Get down". In 2013\n\nThat was the first recognized Ampiano we heard & motivated us to listen to others, every other artist might be before him but his sound brought us to the light of Ampiano.\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc\u201d— LegendaryGain \u270a\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc99 (@LegendaryGain \u270a\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc99) 1663171330
\u201cMe and Cassper \u201cewallet\u201d started amapiano in west africa. Sponono followed and made it bigger then David & foca really took the genre to another level. Facts\u201d— KDDO (@KDDO) 1663164544
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