Biography

Kabza de Small: the king of amapiano who conquered the world

In 2024, a symphony of 33 musicians and an 8-voice choir performed amapiano rhythms under the direction of Ofentse Pitse, in a sold-out showroom at the Red Bull embassy in Johannesburg. The architect of this music, Kabelo Motha, had just proven that a genre born in South African townships could conquer classic concert halls.

In brief


Full name	Kabelo Petrus Motha
Birth	November 27, 1992, eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Field	Producer, DJ, label owner — amapiano (a subgenre of house music blending airy pianos, deep rhythms, and jazz and kwaito influences)
Signature works	Scorpion Kings (2019), I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust (2020), KOA II Part 1 (2022)
Awards	17 South African Music Awards, Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 (2021), GQ South Africa Musician of the Year (2024)

Key dates

Year	Event
2009	Start of DJ career in Pretoria
2016	First album, Avenue Sounds, on House Afrika Records
2018	Breakthrough with “Umshove” and “Amabele Shaya” featuring Leehleza
2019	Scorpion Kings with DJ Maphorisa; albums Scorpion Kings and Piano Hub (3× platinum)
2020	I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust, #1 in South Africa, double platinum
2021	Forbes Africa 30 Under 30; Rumble in the Jungle with DJ Maphorisa and TRESOR
2022	KOA II Part 1; contribution to the Drake tour
2024	Red Bull Symphonic sold-out in Johannesburg
2025	Album Bab’Motha

From Pretoria streets to concert halls

Born on November 27, 1992, in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga province, Kabelo Motha grew up in a household where music held a central place. His family moved to Pretoria, where he was exposed from adolescence to the sounds of South African house music and kwaito rhythms that made townships vibrate. At sixteen, in 2009, he began mixing at informal events without professional equipment, guided by a single passion.

His early productions fused EDM and afrobeat house, a blend that sounded too ambitious for Pretoria clubs at the time. But timing was not yet right. In 2016, he released Avenue Sounds, his first album, under House Afrika Records. The project attracted attention but did not explode the charts. Kabza remained a respected DJ in the local scene.

The breakthrough arrived in 2018 with two singles that became instant classics: “Umshove” and “Amabele Shaya,” both featuring Leehleza, another rising amapiano producer. These tracks became the sounds of South African nights.

In July 2019, Kabza formed Scorpion Kings with veteran DJ Maphorisa. The collaboration was an earthquake: Scorpion Kings sold over 100,000 copies, Piano Hub went triple platinum, and The Return of the Scorpion Kings, released in November 2019, cemented the duo as the creative engine of the genre. In June 2020, Kabza released I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust, his third studio album. It debuted at #1 on South African charts and earned double platinum certification. The record gathered a gallery of collaborators — Wizkid, Burna Boy, Sha Sha, Focalistic, Daliwonga — and Kabza described his track “iLog Drum” as a love letter dedicated to the root of amapiano, the log drum.

The pandemic did not stop the machine: in December 2020, Spotify named him the most-streamed artist in South Africa. The following year, Forbes Africa included him on the 30 Under 30 list and Rolling Stone dedicated a portrait to him. In September 2021, the duo Scorpion Kings released “Abalele” with singer Ami Faku, which debuted at #4 on global Spotify charts. The project Rumble in the Jungle with DJ Maphorisa and TRESOR, released in April 2021, pushed the genre’s international popularity even further.

KOA II Part 1 in 2022 confirmed his artistic autonomy: a more introspective production, a sound gaining maturity. That same year, Kabza contributed to the stage production of the Drake tour. In 2024, he realized his dream with Red Bull Symphonic — an orchestra of 33 musicians and an 8-voice choir reinterpreted his discography. The show sold out in a few hours, then a second date sold within minutes. This was consecration: amapiano is now concert music.

Major works

Work	Year	Why it’s essential
Scorpion Kings	2019	The album that propelled amapiano to the South African Top 10, with 100,000 copies sold
Piano Hub	2019	Triple platinum, it defined the Scorpion Kings sound
I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust	2020	Double platinum, #1, featuring Wizkid and Burna Boy
KOA II Part 1	2022	Introspective production, marking Kabza’s maturation

Legacy and influence

Kabza de Small is the main craftsman behind the global rise of amapiano. With Piano Hub, his label founded in 2018, he trained a new generation of South African producers. Today, amapiano is danced from London to Lagos, from Paris to Tokyo. Festivals worldwide program amapiano line-ups, and international producers sample the log drum. The music born in Soweto gatherings has become South Africa’s most exported sound.