Amapiano is from SA, Davido clarifies

Nigerian superstar Davido has acknowledged that Amapiano is a South African sound as the fierce debate of the subgenre’s origin rages on.

Despite his candid admission, however, Davido maintains that Nigeria has been carrying the continent musically.

“South Africans always have great music, funny enough, since early in my career I’ve been collaborating with South Africans.”

Davido sets the record straight about the origin of Amapiano on The Breakfast Club. pic.twitter.com/Cx7WbPA40h

— Piano Connect (@PianoConnectSA) April 9, 2025

Davido’s comments on The Breakfast Club have resonated with many South Africans, sparking a wave of approval on X.

They will still claim Asake is the pioneer of modern Amapiano globally, but to be fair, I’ve never heard anyone else blend Amapiano with other genres like this with South African artist. However, Davido has successfully experimented with Amapiano on multiple occasions. pic.twitter.com/qTYOTAm78W

— GWEN👿🇧🇪 (@OmarGwen) April 7, 2025

And he’s not lying he’s been featured on a lot of SA songs. Love that he spoke facts bandla bc it is our sound, yeke tata ka Imade. 👊🏽🤍#Amapiano #Davido https://t.co/oYbAeFOm0x

— uYonela_esan (@uYonela_n15) April 9, 2025

Davido is a smart guy.

He knows what he’s doing.
He’s right.
Amapiano is from South Africa 🇿🇦

But……”AWAPIANO” (OUR-Piano) is from Nigeria🇳🇬

😂 Argue with yourselves
🏃🏿‍♂️ drops 🎤

— LionHeart (@LionHeart_ng) April 9, 2025

Davido giving credit to Southy 🇿🇦. This is how it should be, not all this amapiano debate that’s been going on 🫠 https://t.co/c57grCveWd

— Kgomotso 💗 (@DeeKay_M) April 9, 2025

This was so cool of Davido to do. He really bigged us up and explicitly stated amaPiano is from South Africa. A nice showcase of pan-Africanism in these dire times lol. The xenophobes aren’t going to retweet this though. https://t.co/IK0wgcdXlR

— Sfinx (@serasfinx) April 9, 2025

The deep house, log-drum driven basslines and soulful piano melodies of Amapiano took over clubs and radio stations when it gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The likes of Kabza de Small, Dj Maphorisa and Dj Stokie, amongst others, quickly put the genre on the map with hit songs.

It is believed that the style of music emerged in South Africa in 2012. Written by Lindiwe Mpanza