WATCH: Swae Lee apologises for saying Amapiano is Nigerian

US rapper Swae Lee had to apologise to a hoard of South Africans who swiftly called him out for crediting the Amapiano sound to Nigeria, instead of Mzansi.

Swae World Peace 🇿🇦🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/72LpvMry74

— Swae Lee Lee Swae (@SwaeLee) July 11, 2023

The rapper, who is one half of Hip Hop duo Rae Sremmurd, tweeted he would be experimenting with the trending South African genre, but added a Nigerian flag to the tweet which didn’t sit well with South Africans.

“Wait till y’all hear Swae Lee on Amapiano,” he wrote with a Nigerian flag emoji at the end.

ALSO READ: Kabza De Small shows why he is the king of amapiano

Sway Lee aplogises to Mzansi

The 30-year-old rapper has since been tweeting and posting videos trying to clarify what he meant.

“Woooooah I never said anything about who was the first guys I just said wait until y’all hear my amapiano songs 🧐 y’all reached for that one.”

woooooah I never said anything about who was the first guys I just said wait until y’all hear my amapiano songs 🧐 y’all reached for that one

— Swae Lee Lee Swae (@SwaeLee) July 12, 2023

pic.twitter.com/R2qfZnEJY1

— Swae Lee Lee Swae (@SwaeLee) July 11, 2023

Like I said s/O to the originators of amapiano triple salute just know I got some of my vibes OTW !!! Whoever wanna work and create dope shit I don’t care where you from let’s go big ………don’t dig too deep, swae fans you know what it is BE READY!! All over the world 🤞🏽♾️…

— Swae Lee Lee Swae (@SwaeLee) July 11, 2023

South Africans react

South Africans used this as an opportunity to brag about owning the sound, with some strong reactions emerging on social media.

https://twitter.com/AdvoBarryRoux/status/1679039255081787394?s=20

ALSO READ: Grammys to acknowledge Amapiano and SA Hip Hop in new category

Yes everyone does rap but we all know & acknowledge it as American music. South Africa today has the biggest House Music market in the world but we would never try and claim it as our own cuz we know & acknowledge that it comes from Chicago. We don’t mind ppl doing Amapiano, we… https://t.co/MPTqHnPbHP

— WE JUST ARRIVED🦄 (@TheeAzanian) July 11, 2023

So Swae Lee says he was introduced to Amapiano by Nigerians?? 😂😂😂 Wait till we introduce him to Kabza,Tyler ICU,Kelvin Momo. I dare Nigerians to name one biggest amapiano producer in their country. pic.twitter.com/vbj3BgQ8r5

— Indigo (@Lesley_MaLes11) July 12, 2023

Where did Amapiano start?

According to The Music Origins Project, Amapiano is a form of house music that emerged from South Africa in the early 2010s. They report that the sound emerged from the townships in South Africa, particularly in Gauteng, and that Amapiano was initially played at house parties and underground parties in the Pretoria area.

According to the website, the word ‘Amapiano’ loosely translates to ‘the pianos’ in Zulu.

Amapiano is distinguished from other genres of house music by its continuous piano melodies, deep bass with a touch of jazz and Zulu rhythms.

Some of the most popular Amapiano artists include Kabza De Small, DJ Maphorisa, MFR Souls, Focalistic, and Lady Du.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Wiz Khalifa jamming to Khanyisa Jaceni’s amapiano hit