Six Stings by the Scorpion Kings
During this pandemic the one thing that has kept people sane is music. They add it to their Instagram stories while they bake their banana bread and make amagwinya or play their favourite songs while they try to fall asleep. It’s for this, and other reasons, that DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small decided to treat the country to not 1, not 2, but 6 projects dropping today on all music platforms.
After dominating radio, stages and dancefloors across the continent, DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small have showed no signs of slowing down. The award winning DJs have been hard at work planning their highly anticipated event, Scorpion Kings: Live at Sun Arena, which would have taken place on the 11th of April 2020, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, the event was postponed to 09 August 2020. Although they understood the reasons for the postponement, their fans could not help but feel sad that this long awaited event had to be moved. Seeing the sadness that filled their timelines, Maphorisa and Kabza decided to treat their fans to projects that they could listen to from now until 09 August.
There is a story behind these six projects and it consists of three elements – DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small and the notorious Porryland studio.
Daliwonga
Daliwonga caught the Amapiano industry’s attention when he featured on the hit single ‘Yelele’ by Kelvin Momo. He released an EP with LuuNineleven at the latter part of 2019 called ‘Simatasatasa’ and the hit single “Friends With Benefits’ had everyone singing, “Hayi, ang’funi mjolo!” at all the parties during the 2019 festive season. On the road, he caught the attention of Maphorisa and Kabza who were also playing at a lot of the gigs that he was at; and cracked his official invitation to Porryland.
“I had heard him on a couple of songs and seen him perform; he sounded fresh and had a great energy about him. We wanted to bring him in, teach him how to hone his talents and develop him into a strong artist,” said Maphorisa.
Daliwonga took the Scorpion Kings up on their offer and the first night he arrived at Porryland, he recorded his new single Tester with King Monada.
“When I arrived at the house it was full of artists and they were busy recording a song with King Monada. I heard it and I knew that I had to be on it, so I jumped into the studio and that’s how Tester came about,” said Daliwonga.
A month later his EP, Uyang’testa was complete and ready to be shared with the world.
Mas Musiq and Aymos
Mas Musiq met DJ Maphorisa three years ago and they have been working together ever since. Tembisa native, Mas Musiq, the producer behind hits like and Indaba Ka Bani and eMcimbini introduced Maphorisa and Kabza to his good friend, and fellow Tembisa native, Aymos. At that time, Aymos had just dropped a slow song Zaka Zaka and Mas felt that he could definitely do something with it. Mas took the song, added an Amapiano beat and the remix became a hit. Mas Musiq then released his critically acclaimed EP Mambisa which also included the hit single Mthandefeaturing Riky Rick and Sha Sha. After touring the country with their hits, Aymos received his invitation to Porryland and the first single he worked on and released was the hit eMcimbini featuring Samthing Soweto. Maphorisa saw how well the two worked together and suggested that they should collaborate and release a project.
“They are both from Tembisa and I felt that there was a gap that they could play with. They have great chemistry together and the producer/singer collaboration is dope,” said Maphorisa.
The duo’s EP, Shonamalanga is dropping on all music platforms today.
MDU aka TRP and BONGZ
MDU aka TRP and BONGZ made noise in the Amapiano streets with their underground hit, Blood Service. Friends with fellow Amapiano purist, Kabza De Small, the duo was invited to Porryland for Maphorisa to hear what they had already been working on. After listening to the EP, Maphorisa and Kabza felt that they could work with their material and their EP Pulling Up Project drops on all music platforms today.
Kabza De Small
Apart from Amapiano enthusiasts, South Africa got introduced to award winning DJ, Kabza De Small, through his hit singles Umshove, Shaya and Amabele. Proving, again, that he never sleeps, Kabza De Small adds to the Pretty Girls Love Amapiano collection with his latest offering dropping today on all music platforms.
“This one is for the hardcore Amapiano fans who really love instrumental Amapiano. It is for the streets and the DJs,” said Kabza De Small.
Madumane
You may have heard Madumane on tracks like Love You Tonight by MFR Souls, Wamuhle by DJ Stokie or Hello by Scorpion Kings and now he is dropping his own self-titled EP, Madumane dropping on all music platforms today.Who is Madumane, you ask.
“Madumane is whatever I feel like doing whether it is trap, hip hop or afro beat. There are no rules. I love playing with my voice and I decided to name that guy, Madumane.” said DJ Maphorisa.
The lead single off the EP is a track that he has been teasing on his social media since June 2019 titled, Bentley featuring Cassper Nyovest and Howard.
Scorpion Kings
There’s no denying that we cannot remember what life was like before the Scorpion Kings burst onto the scene with their debut album Scorpion Kings. While we were dancing to hits like Amantombazane featuring Samthing Soweto and Vula Vala featuring Nokwazi the Scorpion Kings dropped The Return of Scorpion Kings and dominated December 2019 with hits like Lorch featuring Semi Tee, Miano and Kammu Dee; Sandton featuring Focalistic, Kamo Mphela and Bontle Smith; and Indaba Ka Bani featuring Kamazu and Mas Musiq. Determined to keep dominating the charts, they dropped Scorpion Kings: Live at Sun Arena in anticipation of their concert in April 2020. Now, to keep their fans going through these unprecedented times, the award winning producers drop Scorpion Kings: Once Upon A Time In Lockdown, an album aimed at lifting South Africa’s morale.
You can catch DJ Maphorisa on Metro FM at 08:40am today and make sure to stay tuned throughout the day to hear all the singles. Also make sure to watch Zkhiphani’s Instagram live interview at 12:00 with the Scorpion Kings.
