The Singles Jukebox

Some familiar amapiano names make their return…

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Crystal Leww: Amapiano continues to gain ground in the global dance scene — with Boiler Room parties in London and Major League Djz featured as part of Apple Music’s latest New Year’s lineup. Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa are two of its fathers, and “Asibe Happy” with Ami Faku is the latest of their looooooooooong history of collaborations. (Seriously, they have six joint albums together.) Apparently, “asibe happy” roughly translates into “let’s be happy,” and it’s a feeling that comes through on this track, with Ami Faku sounding like the sunshine on your face on a summer morning: glowing, simple, kind pleasure.
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Will Adams: I enjoy the way the bass evolves over the song’s seven-and-a-half minutes. It begins as the root of the electric piano chords, deepens to a warm sub-bass synth, morphs into a percussive strike and culminates in a robust throb. It’s the only really dynamic feature of “Asibe Happy”, but when dealing with a genre as reliably gorgeous as amapiano, that’s not the worst thing.
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Ian Mathers: Wishing there was a bit more dynamism here does feel like looking a gift horse in the mouth, since the level it does simmer away at for the duration is very, very good. But even after multiple plays, it does feel like there’s another gear just waiting to be slipped into.
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Nortey Dowuona: One of the beauties of the many samplings of amapiano we have covered here are the deep, plush sweep of the piano chords. When I hear them deep into the track as the drums build and build for the first minute of the whole song, it always feels like a relief, a cool refresher into my ears, cooling them down from the heating percussion rumbling against my eardrums. With this, the relief comes from the singer. Ami’s voice, like many singers within the small sampling of amapiano I’ve heard, is soft but largely feathery, Azana one of the few with a stronger tone. But Ami uses her soft tone to dim the buzzy synths pulsing in the background and make their brightness warmth. She is laying back in the lower end of her range, seeming raspy and thin, which, as she slides into a brighter, smoother tone in the chorus, circles the piano warily, well aware of its possible warmth but it’s probable potential to burn you alive. And every time Ami retreats, the mix becomes brighter and shinier, more and more a frightening red color that dims to a cozy one as Ami returns. Both Kabza de Small and DJ Maphoriza have built a standard (if there is such a thing) amapiano track, with three plush piano chords, lumpy and jolting synth bass stabs during the chorus and post chorus, and the percussion so bright it might blind you — but here goes da da, da da and ur becomes visible and calming, a warming fire instead of an unsteady blaze.
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Katherine St Asaph: While I’m on the topic of hypothetical ’00s dance compilations, “Asibe Happy” could be off another one, something with a saturated sunrise on the cover and Ibiza somewhere in the title, sequenced between Cathy Battistessa and Nicola Hitchcock. I instinctively love this sound too, and it isn’t even embarrassing!
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Alfred Soto: I love shakers and minor key synth melodies — especially with a dynamic vocal.
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Oliver Maier: Too deft to leave a real impression, despite the ambitious runtime. I wish it really went for it in the way that the house bass portends, but undeniably pretty pleasant for what it is.
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