'Scorpion Kings Live with Friends': a night of beats, memories and star-studded reflections

Amapiano pioneers DJ Maphorisa and Kabza de Small brought Loftus Stadium alive along with their friends on Friday night, August 29. 

The stadium was packed with a star-studded line-up, featuring artists who have contributed to making the genre the success it is today, for the much-anticipated "Scorpion Kings Live with Friends" concert.

Makhadzi set the stage on fire with a trailblazing performance as the opening act of the night. Leaving the audience in awe with her energy and wanting more of Lekompo's music.

Amapiano’s heavyweights, such as Young Stunna, Kamo Mphela, and rising stars Thatohatsi and Tracy, were some of the artists who gave attendees their money’s worth with their fiery performances.

From the lively acts to the captivating stage set-up and DJ Maphorisa’s mother’s heartfelt opening prayer at the beginning of his set, the event was certainly one for the books.

Backstage insights from the artists

“Independent Media Lifestyle” caught up with some of the artists backstage to find out from them how it feels to be part of making history and being involved in the success that the amapiano genre continues to be.

“Amazwe” singer Mawhoo shared her excitement about the night of celebrating Kabza and Maphorisa, and what it meant to her to witness the growth of amapiano as an artist.

“I loved celebrating the different genres tonight and performing in a packed stadium, the vibes, the energy,” she said. “It’s also so important to celebrate the people that you love. I love Kabza and Maphorisa.”

She added that she enjoyed the crowd and her performance alongside Mthunzi as well as the Scorpion Kings duo.

Another artist the publication caught up with was Pretorian DJ Dinho, who was also on the line-up. 

“I feel grateful to be part of the movement and to be able to witness the growth of Amapiano. I’m proud of the guys and how they have also opened up the doors for more talent.”

He shared how excited he was to perform and to see his industry peers performing since he had witnessed their rehearsals for months.

Finally, “Hamba Nabo” hitmaker Uncool Mc also had a word on the growth of amapiano.

“I think it’s such a major thing because the genre supports many livelihoods, it empowers a lot of creativity and more music knowledge. People get to experience other genres of music through amapiano,” he said.

What goes into hosting a major event like Scorpion Kings Live with Friends

Hosting such a huge event comes with a lot of advantages and disadvantages; some mishaps were expected, especially for an event that saw almost 50 000 attendees. 

Crowd control proved to be quite challenging, leading to moments of chaos. Navigating through the crowd was stressful, and the turnaround time for drinks added to the frustration.

Head of PR for “Scorpion Kings Live with Friends”, Kim Sineke, gave her insights about the amount of effort that goes into turning an event of that magnitude into a success.

“It takes lots of preparation and learning to be agile. Things change and happen on the go, so you have to know how to adapt very quickly.

Having a team is also very important. Having people who can add the expertise and really do put on the best,” said Sineke.

“So putting a whole team together, making sure that you think about what it is that you want the show to look like, from clothes to makeup to hair to lights to fireworks, the stage itself in terms of how it’s designed,” she added.

In conclusion, she highlighted how the event showcased the power of collaboration, with Amapiano serving as a prime example of how teamwork can lead to something truly stunning. 

How the creative teams involved demonstrated dedication to their craft, coming together to produce something beautiful.

Kwesta, Mlindo the Vocalist and Cassper Nyovest also moved the crowd and certainly left fans wanting more of the Hip Hop music.

In addition, Nyovest also added a heartfelt worship and prayer session on stage before closing off his performance for the night, which left the crowd feeling lively.

Afrobeats sensation, Davido, closed it off performing some of his biggest hits and was later joined by Pretoria’s finest, Focalistic, the president of the streets, as he likes to call himself. They ended the night with their “Ke Star” remix performance.