The first official annual South African Amapiano Music Awards are here! The awards dates and whether they will be held virtually or physically are not yet out. Artists will win R10 000 cash for each winning category while Song of the Year will win a cash prize of 50 000 rands.

By Plot Mhako With excerpts from #SAAMAPIANOAWARDS

Amapiano is a style of house music that emerged in South Africa in 2012. Amapiano is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths, airy pads and wide and percussive basslines.

A genre that has captured the voices of millions of South African youth, it has received notable nods from many prominent western figures including Diddy, Swizz Beats, Virgil Abloh, to name but a few.

The Amapiano genre has transformed into one of South Africa’s biggest musical exports.

Therefore the decision to come up with a dedicated awards show for the genre that would recognize its most For this first installment the governing body considered artists’ contributions to the genre and musical projects that were released from 01 January 2020 to 31 March 2021. Moving forward, the Awards will consider contributions from Artists & Creators over a yearly period from March to March of every year.

What somewhat started as an “underdog’s sound” has now gone on to find itself at the forefront of music culture not only in Mzansi but the rest of the continent – and the world. It therefore came as a shock to many when categories in the prominent award ceremonies in the country were not dominated by Amapiano artists; despite the yanos leading in terms of fan base and numbers on social media as well as on DSPs – which is why the Governing Body of the inaugural Awards decided to come up with a ceremony that would specifically celebrate the genre, and we couldn’t be more excited about finally having an official Yanos Awards Show

Launched right in the midst of a pandemic when artists are being told that they can’t work, the awards show is by the people, for the people and winners are voted for by the people themselves. Voters can win up to 100 000 worth of prizes for voting for their favorite nominees.  AMAPIANO TO THE WORLD!!!

https://saamapianoawards.com/