Amapiano Fridays fills Draak to capacity
Students at the North-West University (NWU) filled the campus watering hole the Drakenstein (Draak) to its full capacity of 350 on 15 March 2024 just to get a chance to dance the night away to the soulful beats of amapiano.
Amapiano Fridays is a groove event for students to unwind. It was held once in 2023, and ever since students have been asking for its return.
Amapiano is a house music subgenre that originated in South Africa around 2012. The word is Nguni, and loosely translated it means “the pianos”. It is a crossover of profound house, jazz, and parlour music described by synths and wide, percussive basslines.
The genre has grown in popularity across Africa since 2019 judging by the increase in digital streams and chart victories in other African nations and the West, Rolling Stone reported.
First event of the year
On 15 March, students started lining up around 18:00, the R10 entrance fee in hand. When the event closed at around 22:30, there were still many students who did not manage to get inside.
The first Amapiano Fridays event attracted a diverse crowd of students – and even parents – who all enjoyed the beats and refused the stress about academic work to spoil their evening.
Alessia Pillay, a member of the Students’ Campus Council (SCC) in the Students Interests and Development Office (SIC) office and organiser of the event, said, “This event is one of the events the SIC hosts to include private students in campus life.”
What students say
Students who attended the event were very excited. Buyelwa, a first-year student, said: “It is my first time attending an event like this. I came alone because I am hoping that this would allow me to make new friends who have the same taste in music as me.”
Another student, who identified himself only as Beau-Paul, said: “We usually have to go to BLK [a local club] to listen to music like this and that is not the safest place to go, and using Bolt at night is not safe.”
According to Renee, who preferred to not share her surname, a third-year in public governance, “This is the first time I have experienced an event like this in my three years on this campus.” She explained that the usual events that take place in the Draak and on campus usually play “white music” so she does not bother going.
At 20:00, headlining DJ Ooh Shucks arrived on the decks to shake up the Draak. At 20:05 loadshedding hit but that did not stop the crowd. They waited and sang while patiently waiting for the generators to kick in.