"Amapiano" is a song by Nigerian musician
Asake and Nigerian rapper
Olamide. The song is a single from Asake's second studio album, Work of Art, and was produced by Nigerian producer
Magicsticks. The music video, shot by Jyde Ajala, was released May 24, 2023.[1] The song was a surprise release and gained over 100,000 streams within less than 24 hours of its release and debuted at number one of the Spotify Top Songs Nigeria Daily Chart.[2] The song was nominated for
Best African Music Performance at the
66th Grammy awards.[3] It was one of the most streamed songs of 2023 on
Audiomack, garnering 87.7 million streams on the platform.[4] The 44th president of USA president
Barack Obama listed the song in his favorite music of 2023, in his annual favorite music list.[5]
Background
The song pays homage to
amapiano, the South African music genre of music that Asake has become well-known for.[6]
Composition
The song is described as "easy listen that evokes feelings of happiness and overall summer vibes".[7] Collins Badewa of Style Rave describes the song as "an infectious blend of energetic beats, vibrant melodies, and catchy hooks".[8] Additionally, it's noted for incorporating elements from
hip-hop, amapiano,
afrobeats,
deep house, and a "neo-fuji" aesthetic, resulting in a distinctive rhythmic energy.[9][10] Douglas Markowitz of
Grammy Awards wrote that while the song pays homage to the amapiano genre, it rearranges some elements such as the iconic
log drum.[11] The lyrics are primarily in
Yoruba language and
pidgin and bits of English.[12]
All the bells and whistles of an Asake song are present, a maximalist canvas that includes warm piano keys, gorgeously droning violin, interpolated organ notes, log drums that mimic the staggering groove of Omele drums, and a bevy of stacked vocals in call-and-response mode. If anyone needs the clearest vision of what 'piano-inflected neo-Fuji' is, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than "Amapiano".[13]