Who are the Scorpion Kings?
In South Africa’s modern dance canon, Kabza De Small (Kabelo Motha) and DJ Maphorisa (Themba Sekowe) are the two names most responsible for taking Amapiano from townships and taxi ranks to the world’s biggest festival PA systems. Their alliance began publicly in 2019 with a run of collaborative releases under the banner “Scorpion Kings,” and it has since functioned like a hit factory and a traveling institution—part DJ act, part label-culture, part mentorship pipeline for new voices like Young Stunna, Daliwonga, and Ami Faku.
The brand now encompasses studio albums, live albums, marathon sets and arena-scale concerts, with 2025 culminating in a stadium takeover of Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria (more on that below). Their story is really the story of Amapiano’s global lift-off.
Origins: How the Project Started
Kabza De Small earned the nickname “King of Amapiano” by refining the sound’s piano-forward, pad-rich aesthetic, while Maphorisa—already a continental hitmaker via Mafikizolo’s “Khona” and later Afrobeats crossovers—brought big-picture A&R instincts and world-class engineering. In July 2019, they formalized the partnership with the self-titled Scorpion Kings project, followed by Return of the Scorpion Kings that November. Apple Music and Audiomack listings confirm the release dates (5 July and 29 November 2019), cementing 2019 as the year the duo became a proper banner rather than an occasional collab credit.
Discography in Short (and Why It Matters)
The early run moved fast: Scorpion Kings (July 2019), Return of the Scorpion Kings (Nov 2019), the live document Scorpion Kings (Live) (Feb 2020), and the lockdown-era full-length Once Upon a Time in Lockdown (Apr 2020). Collectively, these titles canonized the “private school” palette (mellow Rhodes, glassy synths, sax/strings motifs) alongside crowd-commanding log-drum phrasing. Apple Music and Spotify entries verify the sequence and dates; OkayAfrica reported the 17 April 2020 release of Once Upon a Time in Lockdown, underscoring how the duo kept feeding fans during the pandemic when clubs were shut. The live albums and official playlists on YouTube Music further show how the pair treat the booth as a composition tool—recordings from Sun Arena helped standardize set architecture for other DJs.
Flagship Songs and Chart Receipts
While the Scorpion Kings’ power is best felt live, several songs became national (and regional) anthems. “Abalele” (Kabza & Maphorisa with Ami Faku) landed on 17 September 2021, topping Apple Music South Africa and finishing as Spotify South Africa’s #4 most-streamed track of 2021; it went on to win Most Streamed Song at the 2022 SAMAs.
“Asibe Happy” (Nov 2021) became a chart force as well, peaking at #1 on The Official South African Charts and cracking the Billboard South Africa Songs chart. The 2023/24 juggernaut “Imithandazo” (Kabza & Mthunzi featuring DJ Maphorisa and others) hit #1 on both TOSAC and Billboard South Africa Songs in January 2024, proving that the Scorpion Kings’ touch still shapes national taste years into the wave. These citations matter because they quantify impact beyond the dance floor.
Signature Sound: The Log Drum, the Pads, the Pace
At the core of the Scorpion Kings’ mixes is the log drum: a synthesized, subby percussive voice that can thud like an 808 or wobble like a bass guitar, arranged in tumbling patterns that “walk” under the piano. They pair that with patient chord progressions, light hi-hat chatter, and long intros that reward DJs who mix harmonically. In interviews and scene reporting, outlets like Mixmag and OkayAfrica have emphasized Amapiano’s lineage—deep house and kwaito DNA, jazz voicings, and tempos that hover in the low-120s—while Kabza himself has called out kwaito as foundational. The Scorpion Kings lean into that heritage while modernizing the low end: their log drums aren’t just loud; they’re sculpted for big rigs so the bass blooms without smearing the keys. This is why their long blends travel so well from township lounges to Boiler Room-esque stages.
Live: From Balcony Culture to Stadium Scale
Live recordings have always been central to the mythos, from YouTube marathons to official live albums. The step-change in 2025 is scale: on Friday, 29 August 2025, the Scorpion Kings mount Scorpion Kings Live (With Friends) at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, with Webtickets listing a 13:00 doors time and multiple seating tiers, and Ticketpros carrying official parking/entry SKUs. Major South African media (IOL/TimesLIVE) have previewed the all-day format, noting a pre-show stage with DJs and the headlining Scorpion Kings close. It’s a full-stadium statement for a DJ/producer act built on groove and curation rather than pop vocals—a milestone that rewrites what a homegrown dance culture can do at stadium level.
2019–2021: The Release Sprint That Set the Template
Rewind to 2019–2021 and you’ll see how quickly the duo built a catalog that other DJs could mine nightly. Scorpion Kings (July 2019) established the formula: vocal collaborations with Samthing Soweto and Bontle Smith over patient piano riffs (“Amantombazane,” “Lerato”), plus harder percussive cuts that forecasted festival-sized bass. Return of the Scorpion Kings (Nov 2019) widened the circle—features with Thandiswa Mazwai (“Abuyile Amakhosi”), Busiswa and more—while Scorpion Kings (Live) (Feb 2020) showed how those records breathe on stage. The April 2020 Once Upon a Time in Lockdown drop kept momentum when clubs were dark; OkayAfrica’s contemporaneous reporting documents the release. This rapid output explains why the Scorpion Kings became programming “anchors” for Amapiano DJs at home and abroad.
Crossovers and Collaborations
One aspect that turbo-charged the global story: collaboration. Kabza’s Sponono with Wizkid, Burna Boy, Cassper Nyovest and Madumane (Maphorisa) became an early proof of concept for Amapiano’s Afrobeats handshake in 2020, landing on Kabza’s I Am the King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust and circulating widely on Spotify and YouTube. Later pairings with Ami Faku (“Abalele,” “Asibe Happy”) demonstrated how soulful vocals can ride log drums without losing radio warmth—those two tracks’ chart runs are now cited as case studies in Amapiano’s mainstreaming. The TRESOR collaboration album Rumble in the Jungle (2021) further expanded their palette with Congolese pop stylings and glossy songwriting.
Culture: Dance, Fashion, and the “Private School” Aesthetic
Scorpion Kings shows are microcosms of a bigger culture: choreography-led dance breaks (Soweto’s Finest, Kamo Mphela and peers), township-chic fits, and a social atmosphere that treats the booth like a choir stand. The duo helped normalize two poles that now define Amapiano clubs globally: the “private school” lane (deep, jazzy, romantic) and the “sgija/bacardi” lane (leaner, darker, quicker to the drop). Their sphere makes space for both, often within the same two-hour set, a programming philosophy visible across official live uploads and event playlists tied to Sun Arena/Loftus. In practice, that duality invites different audiences—the head-down house heads and the TikTok dance crews—under the same roof, anchoring the genre’s mass appeal.
Technique: Why Their Sets Translate on Big Rigs
Maphorisa and Kabza favor long, key-matched blends and “breathing room” in the arrangement—extended intros, mid-set pad tunnels, and staggered log-drum entries that feel like tidal shifts rather than jump scares. This allows dynamics to build in 10-minute arcs, perfect for arenas where sub energy can smear if piled on too quickly. If you scan the official “Road to Sun Arena” mix and the live album sequences, you’ll notice drop discipline: drums arrive a bar later than you expect, or the log drum is filtered so the crowd’s sing-back dominates before the bass lands. It’s practical showcraft, developed in rooms across Gauteng and then exported to Ibiza, Barcelona’s Sónar (where Mixmag interviewed them in 2022), and now a football stadium.
Where to Start Listening (A Short Map)
New to the Scorpion Kings? Start with Return of the Scorpion Kings for the panoramic, feature-heavy sound; then jump to Scorpion Kings (Live) to hear crowd energy shape the arrangements; and finally, visit Once Upon a Time in Lockdown for the “at-home-but-still-grand” vibe that defined 2020. Apple Music and Spotify pages carry the canonical versions, with YouTube Music hosting official live playlists from Sun Arena. For singles, “Abalele,” “Asibe Happy,” and “eMcimbini” are the fast path to understanding why vocals plus log drums became South Africa’s national love language.
Amapiano’s Global Boom, Measured
Beyond viral clips, there are hard indicators of this duo’s global pull. Editorial programming on Apple Music (e.g., “Kabza De Small x DJ Maphorisa Essentials,” “Apple Music Amapiano” hubs) and steady chart presence on TOSAC/Billboard SA signal sustained local dominance. International media have framed the Scorpion Kings as ambassadors—OkayAfrica tracked their early awards momentum and influence; Mixmag positioned them as headliners shaping global dance floors. Add 2025’s Loftus Versfeld booking infrastructure—Webtickets, Ticketpros, IOL and TimesLIVE coverage—and you have a duo with theater-to-stadium throughput that few DJ acts (in any genre) achieve at home.
The Business Model: Velocity + Ecosystem
The Scorpion Kings operate more like a label/agency hybrid than a standard DJ duo. They release frequently (EPs, albums, live tapes), cultivate a circle of featured vocalists and producers, and convert that velocity into bookings. Live recordings (and well-shot DJ sets) are not just content—they’re A&R funnels and showreels for promoters. During the lockdown period, Once Upon a Time in Lockdown kept streaming graphs healthy and introduced new collaborators, while live albums gave trainspotters the definitive versions of ID’d tracks. By 2025, this ecosystem supports stadium-scale events with pre-shows, guest lists, branded content and merch—exactly what you’d expect from a pop powerhouse, run through a DJ booth.
Culture Exports: From Joburg to London, New York and Beyond
When you read UK/Europe scene coverage, you’ll see how Amapiano reshaped festival programming: slower tempos in prime time, bass-forward sound systems, and crowds eager for long blends instead of quick-cut EDM theatrics. The Scorpion Kings were among the first to prove that an Amapiano headliner could hold six-hour slots at tastemaker festivals and still feel like a pop event. Mixmag’s 2022 Sónar preview caught them in this transitional moment; since then, Apple Music’s genre hubs and diaspora party circuits (from London’s club grid to Amsterdam and Ibiza) have normalized the format. That’s why 2025’s Loftus Versfeld show reads as both homecoming and blueprint.
How to Identify a Scorpion Kings Track in the Wild
Listen for these tells: (1) a cushion of Rhodes or string pads that opens like a curtain, (2) a midrange piano riff that cycles every 8 bars, (3) a patient snare/kick pocket with hi-hats that chatter rather than slice, (4) a log drum that arrives slightly late—often after the vocal hook has already landed—to make the drop feel earned, and (5) backing ad-libs and callouts that create a party-in-the-room feeling (Madumane’s swagger, for instance). On radio edits you’ll hear tighter structures, but in long-form sets (check the Road to Sun Arena mix) you’ll notice the duo push into 10–12 minute arcs where a single motif morphs through filters and chord substitutions.
Why 2025 Is a New Peak
It’s not just “another big year.” The Loftus Versfeld show (29 August 2025) is a once-in-a-scene infrastructure leap: daytime preshow line-ups (IOL lists names from DBN Gogo to Vinny Da Vinci), multiple ticket classes, partner marketing, and nation-scale media chatter about “filling” a 50,000-capacity stadium. For a homegrown dance format that matured in lounges and car parks, that’s history. It summarizes six years of relentless output since 5 July 2019, when the first Scorpion Kings album dropped—an anniversary South African outlets marked this July. If you want a single-picture snapshot of Amapiano’s ascent, this is it: two DJs turning a national sound into a venue-filling cultural showpiece.
Further Listening/Watching
- Scorpion Kings (Live) – Apple Music album page (for the definitive Sun Arena tracklist).
- “Abalele” – Apple Music single page; also search Shazam city charts to see how it moved across SA cities.
- “Asibe Happy” – Wikipedia entry with TOSAC/Billboard SA peaks.
- Once Upon a Time in Lockdown – coverage and stream links.
- “Road to Sun Arena” – official YouTube mix that models their pacing.
Practical: Where to Get the Music and See Them Live
For official, high-quality releases, start with Apple Music and Spotify artist pages, which cleanly separate Scorpion Kings albums from solo work; YouTube Music hosts official playlists of the live catalogs. If you’re after the live experience in South Africa, Webtickets and Ticketpros are the authorized sellers for major 2025 shows (Loftus Versfeld on 29 Aug), with details on gates, pre-shows and seating. In Europe and the UK, watch summer festival grids and Amapiano-branded events—Sónar, Ibiza pop-ups, and London/Ams parties program the Kings or their inner circle consistently. In all cases, check the duo’s official channels a week out: schedules move quickly when they’re on a continental run.
Facts
- First Scorpion Kings album: 5 July 2019 (Scorpion Kings).
- Key follow-up: 29 Nov 2019 (Return of the Scorpion Kings).
- Live document: Scorpion Kings (Live), released 3 Feb 2020.
- Lockdown album: Once Upon a Time in Lockdown, 17 Apr 2020.
- Anthem: “Abalele” (2021) topped Apple Music SA; #4 most-streamed on Spotify SA for 2021; SAMA Most Streamed Song (2022).
- 2025 stadium show: Scorpion Kings Live (With Friends), Loftus Versfeld, 29 Aug 2025; tickets via Webtickets/Ticketpros; day-long format previewed by IOL/TimesLIVE.
