Stokie and Javiane: The DJs Behind Rapid Growth of Amapiano Music in Africa

[Photo Credit: Shabao Photography]

By Kinyua Mwangi

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Over the past two years; Amapiano music has undergone tremendous growth in Africa and is now one of the top genres in the continent. The genre emanated from South Africa and is credited to several top DJs with the most prominent being DJ Stokie (38) and DJ Jaivane (29).

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Their prominence in generating the sound has won them accolades. However, there is still another theory suggesting that Kabz De Small together with DJ Maphorisa pioneered Amapiano.

In this article, we focus on DJ Stokie and DJ Jaivane’s role in the growth and development of Amapiano music.

Amapiano fuses deep house music with an upbeat jazzy piano feel, thus the name “Amapiano”.

Stokie in a past interview with News 24 recalled that it was difficult to introduce the sound at first, adding that after trying for quite some time, it broke even and they wouldn’t miss shows playing Amapiano in Pretoria and Johannesburg because it was widely accepted.

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Stokie takes the credit of godfathering Amapiano to become the new Kwaito beat in South Africa. He recalls that he first heard the Amapiano beat with MFR Souls; a group of DJs – and he decided to play it. Besides, he has been playing the piano for so long.

“I’ve been playing the piano for years and years. I heard this unique sound from these other DJs called MFR Souls from the East Rand and I loved it. When I started playing this sound, I somehow introduced it to people,” he said during a past interview.

Soaked in the beat, he released his debut single ‘AmaInternational’ as a special treat for Amapiano lovers. He then released the Amapiano Movement Volume 1 Mix – his debut album – with diverse Amapiano sounds.

All this, he created in his Soweto neighbourhood of Mzimhlophe. DJ Jaivane, on the other hand, met Stokie by chance in his path as a part-time DJ. They teamed up to push Amapiano. They always loved each other’s’ skill with the turntable. When they met, they clicked instantly and everything started flowing to the right direction.

The two believe that other DJs and stakeholders in the music scene picked up the Amapiano sound from them.

‘Amapiano’ is arguably one of the biggest music genres in Africa today. It has been embraced across the continent. In Kenya, ‘Amapiano’ music is synonymous with whistle blowing.