DJ Maphorisa has reignited one of African music’s most debated conversations after addressing the long-running dispute over Nigeria’s influence on Amapiano during a new interview with veteran South African DJ Oskido.
The conversation, featured in the latest episode of Oskido’s I Believe Podcast, premiered on Friday, August 28, 2026, and quickly became a major talking point online.
Rather than continuing the argument over whether Nigerian artists “stole” Amapiano, Maphorisa took a different position. He argued that South African musicians themselves helped open the door for Nigerian artists through collaborations and international partnerships.
Maphorisa pointed to “Sponono,” the collaboration involving Kabza De Small, Wizkid, Burna Boy and other artists, as an important moment in Amapiano’s international expansion. In his view, records such as this effectively gave Nigerian artists the opportunity to embrace the South African-born sound.
For Maphorisa, the debate over whether Nigeria took Amapiano is now finished. He described the conversation as “dead” and instead encouraged South African musicians to study the way Nigerian artists build audiences, promote their culture and support one another internationally.
His comments have divided listeners. Some social media users welcomed his message of collaboration and argued that African music benefits when artists cross borders. Others pushed back, questioning whether South African musicians receive the same level of recognition when their sounds and creative influence travel beyond the country.
The discussion comes at an interesting point in Maphorisa’s own career. The producer has also been moving toward a different musical direction, signalling a return to Afro house and Afro-inspired music after years at the centre of Amapiano’s global rise. He previously announced that he was going back to his roots, saying that Amapiano was already in good hands.
During his conversation with Oskido, Maphorisa also spoke about the growing pressure facing artists in the current music industry. He pointed to shorter attention spans and the difficulty of keeping audiences engaged with full albums, using his 28-track project Ngomoya as an example. Despite releasing a large body of work, he said listeners can quickly move on from a project after focusing on only one song.
That observation adds another layer to the interview: Maphorisa is not only reflecting on where Amapiano has gone, but also questioning where the wider African music industry is heading.
With Amapiano now firmly established as a global genre and Maphorisa increasingly looking toward Afro music, his latest comments could mark a significant shift in how one of the genre’s most influential figures sees his next chapter.
For now, his message is clear: instead of fighting over who owns Amapiano, African artists should focus on collaboration, global expansion and building stronger music industries.
