Features
Adedamola Adedayo: Major League DJz and Major Lazer Form an Eclectic Alliance on “Piano Republik”
South African producer duo, Major League DJz, comprising identical twins Banele and Bandile Mbere, have teamed up with Jamaican-American electronic dance music trio Major Lazer (made up of Diplo, Walshy Fire and Ape Drums), to deliver the album, Piano Republik.
With production credits given to Mad Decent/Because, Piano Republik is a cross-cultural fusion of sounds and styles, the most prominent being Major League DJz-powered Amapiano.
Piano Republik is considered Major Lazer’s comeback album, following a three-year hiatus, since their 2020 project Music is the Weapon. The US-based musical group are known for their dynamism, having experimented with genres such as reggae, dancehall, reggaeton, house, soca and moombahton. However, this current album explores South African Amapiano, a house style that has grown in leaps and bounds to rule over music production across Africa. Prominent African artistes and producers who have keyed into this hybrid wave of sounds since its rise in the mid-2010s include Focalistic, Cassper Nyovest, Black Motion, Asake, Native Soul, Rexxie, Kabza De Small, LoJay, Musa Keys, Busta 929, amongst others.
“Africa is the centre of musical energy for the whole world right now, and Amapiano is easily one of the most exciting things happening,” says Walshy Fire of Major Lazer. He further acknowledges the pioneering contributions of Major League DJz to the evolution of the style as what prompted the collaboration in the first place.
Initially formed in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving three years in 2011 to be replaced by both Jillionaire (who left in 2019, his place taken by Ape Drums) and Walshy Fire, Major Lazer were shot into the limelight while working with M.I.A. Their discography includes four full-length albums, six extended plays and five mixtapes, with promotional singles and remix albums to their credit.
Released March 24, 2023, and containing nine tracks with 35 minutes of running time, the Amapiano-fuelled Piano Republik accommodates guest artistes Ty Dolla $ign, Tyla, Yumbs, LuuDaDeejay, Joeboy, Tiwa Savage, DJ Maphorisa, Brenda Fassie, Msaki, Gaba Cannal, Russell Zuma, DJ Rico and Boniface.
The first song released off the album since September 2022, Koo Koo Fun, has been a commercial success, featuring Diva of Afrobeats, Tiwa Savage, and South African DJ cum artiste Maphorisa. At the time when the single was out, the two production groups were on the verge of completing the album. Other previous releases are Designer featuring Joeboy, Mamgobhozi featuring late South African music icon and activist Brenda Fassie, as well as Smoking & Drinking and Oh Yeah, both featuring American RnB superstar Ty Dolla $ign.
Featuring in an August 2022 cover story on Mixmag, Bandile Mbere of Major League DJz hailed the cosmopolitan spirit of Amapiano as “an African dance music that brings the world together.” For him, the style was a unifying force, creating an unassailable bond between South Africa and the rest of the continent.
Feeling thankful for support over the album production, Walshy Fire said, “We only owe the people out there partying and listening, and the disc jockeys playing the music for the song’s success.”
Back in 2021, Major League DJz released the critically acclaimed album, Outside, and they have since gone ahead to set the global record for the longest DJ set delivered by a duo, with a performance spanning 75 hours for a unique edition of the Balcony Mix edition. The duo have received support from Stefflon Don, Burna Boy, Jorja Smith, Rema, Mr Eazi, Asake and Honey Dijon, a list which continues to increase; they marked their debut on Coachella Music Festival together with Grammy award-winning DJ Black Coffee in 2022, and soon they sold out 02 Academy Brixton in London.
Piano Republik begins with the debauchery-themed Smoking & Drinking before proceeding to Ke Shy in which Tyla, Yumbs and LuuDaDeejay are featured. Next comes Ngibambe, rendered in Zulu, featuring DJ Gaba Cannal and vocalist Russell Zuma. In the 4th track Designer, Nigerian Afrobeats star, Joeboy, leads the vocals and the subject matter of an anonymous materialistic young man is mildly navigated. There’s a sense of female independence in the lyrics of Koo Koo Fun, as Tiwa Savage takes on the persona of a fun-loving lady who doesn’t want to be treated like some cheap thing by a wealthy Alhaji. On Mamgobhozi, late Brenda Fassie’s hit Vuli Ndlela is sampled. Ty Dolla $ign returns on Oh Yeah; and the song is followed by Stop & Go which welcomes Msaki, and for an album-long second time, Yumbs and LuuDaDeejay. The last track, Higher Ground, features Boniface and DJ Rico.
Piano Republik prioritises deeply Africa-flavoured beats and rhythms, an interesting attempt to aestheticise continental music before a global audience.
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