Unbeknown to many music fans, there’s currently a fertile South African house music scene. It’s known in South Africa by the name amapiano, Zulu for “the pianos”, and originated in South African townships like Soweto. Amapiano is now in the mainstream of South African music, blending house sounds with soul and pop. One of the leading figures in the house scene is producer Sun-El Musician, who enjoyed a prolific 2020, producing acclaimed albums from Mthunzi and Simmy as well as releasing the epically long three-hour album To the World & Beyond under his own name.
Perhaps the most notable record from the SunElWorld stable in 2020, however, was Ingoma, a record by 19-year-old newcomer Azana. Makhosazana Masango is from Durban and the most memorable song on her debut is ‘Your Love’, inspired by a long-distance relationship.
Azana’s ‘Your Love’ has enjoyed more than 3,000,000 views on Youtube, but judging from the comments most of these plays are coming from inside Africa. She doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page yet, even though her creamy voice is totally radio-friendly. ‘Your Love’ is gorgeous, with a simple chord progression and lovely production. The video is great too, the colourful visuals are a perfect accompaniment for the song.
slicethelife 
I like a mix of electronica and voice. This one is nice and mellow. Good to hear what’s going on in the musical world of South Africa.
Thanks for listening!
My pleasure!
I like this! The soulful house groove is infectious, and her warm, buttery vocals are really enchanting.
It seems like the kind of song that might pop up in a movie sometime and take on a life of its own.
The music is mesmerizing. It has a timeless feel that could fit in any recent decade.
Sun-El Musician’s pumped up a lot of music in the last few years – I haven’t really digested it all. He works with another vocalist named Simmy as well as his own stuff, and probably some others.
Your comment of “popping up in a movie” is what I thought.
But you knew it before it was big.
Ahead of the curve.
Sounds like a lovely pop song. I do like the rhythm and melody of it Graham.
According to last.fm it’s my most-played song in the last year.
Really like this song. Love the baseline and her vocals. That’s 4 continents so far right?
Yup, I already had Africa though. Need to get to South America sometime. Australasia is tricky as most NZ and Australian songs are in English.
And then there’s Antarctica……. 😀
Icicle Works… that at least sounds like a group from Antartica….
Well I quick search of Spotify also shows the Penguin Cafe Orchestra a d Penguin Prison so multiple choices. 😀
Apparently Metallica have played live there, but I don’t know of any studio recordings.
Will have to look that up 😀
The standout to me is Azana’s voice. Kudos for deliberately picking music by artists who it’s safe to assume are new to most if not all of us!
This is my most played track in the last year so it’s not just a token pick. Her voice is lovely, so rich and creamy.