Amapiano is a rebranded version of Azonto - Samini

Ghanaian dancehall artiste Samini has stated that the popular South African music genre Amapiano is essentially a rebranded version of Ghana's iconic Azonto.

In a recent interview on Property FM and covered by Graphic Showbiz, Samini explained that Amapiano heavily draws inspiration from the composition elements of Azonto, which gained widespread popularity in various countries.

While acknowledging that Amapiano originated in South Africa as a subgenre of house music in the mid-2010s, the "My Own" hitmaker insisted that the similarities between the two genres are too significant to overlook.

“Today if you do Azonto and you add one or two things to it, somebody will say it’s Amapiano, but Amapiano is something which is already South African," he said.

Despite the parallels, Samini emphasised the distinctiveness of Ghanaian music, asserting both genres are still unique to their respective countries.

"Amapiano is always going to be South African, so after everybody tried with Azonto, at the end, it’s Ghana that you will connect it to. So Amapiano will be connected to South Africa, but going forward, Ghana music remains Ghana music," he said.

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