WHO IS THE NIGERIAN KING OF AMAPIANO?

The recent song “Bad to me” released on the 14th of September by Wizkid has sparked an online debate as to who the king of Amapiano in Nigeria is, there exist those who that the crown of kingship will look good on his head while others presume that the 30BG Boss Davido is king enough.

There however was a twist in the debate when award-winning Nigerian artiste Akinmayokun Awodumila popularly known as Mr. “May D” came out publicly to say that he was the first to introduce the Ampiano musical style to Nigeria, and he has awards to validate his claim (implying he has a shot at the throne).

How true is this? We will find out.

WHAT IS AMAPIANO?

Amapiano is a Zulu word that can literally be translated as “the pianos”, it is a fast-rising music genre with South African roots and has gained global recognition and acceptance.

The genre was formerly called ‘number’ but was later renamed “AMAPIANO” by MFR SOULS who popularized it, they are credited with starting it.

THE NIGERIAN DEBATE
As expected the online arguments between team 30BG and Wizkid FC erupted the moment ‘ Bad to me’ dropped but this time around it wasn’t just centered on who was better, the narrative changed to who introduced and popularized the Amapiano sound in the country.

Wizkid FC has been insistent about the ‘hola at your boy’ crooner being the first, their claims have been since the star boy was featured on DJ maphorisa’s ‘Soweto baby’ that had other artists like DJ buckz.

Their claims also seemed to be validated when the superstar DJ further commented on his Twitter handle that the first amapiano song that had Nigerian artists on was titled ‘Sponono,’ which featured Wizkid and Burna Boy in 2019 (The first collab between the duo).

There however arose counter claims made by the Davido team, according to their side of the argument, not only did the DMW Boss introduce Amapiano to the Nigerian music space, but he also popularized it, paving the way for other musicians to build and explore the music genre.

Amidst the back and forth arguments came a bombshell from a corner nobody expected, award-winning artiste Mr. May D seemed to have knocked the wind out of both parties when he asserted clearly in an eloquent post that if there was anybody who introduced the Amapiano sound to the shores of Nigeria it was nobody else but him.

He was bold enough to even allege that he had awards to back up his claims.

May D’s statement came following the online spat between Davido and South African DJ, Maphorisa, who responded to a tweet on social media on September 14, crediting Davido for the success of amapiano in Africa and the rest of the world
May D took to his Twitter handle and stated that he was the first followed by Davido.

Now if we are to go by the dates, DJ Maphorisa’s Soweto baby ft Wizkid and DJ Buckz was released on the 8th of January 2016, while Davido’s ‘The sound’ ft. Uhuru and DJ Bucks dropped in 2015.

True to his claim, May D’s ‘get down’ featuring South African Oskido tops the league of the Nigerian-South African collaborations and ultimately became the first Nigerian to start the Amapiano style in Nigeria as it was released in far back 2013( Earlier than Davido, Wizkid, and Burna Boy)

The king, however, is Davido and this is because none of the others popularized it in the country the way he did. Don’t you forget, he’s arguably the biggest Nigerian influencer out there.

By Tsavbee Justine