From Soweto and Kagiso, De Tories & Chipii Release 0y'funayo, Nearly Eight Minutes of Amapiano
A Soweto DJ-Producer and a Kagiso Vocalist Make a Club-Length Single for the Amapiano Circuit
Soweto has a long claim on South African dance music. Kwaito, one of the roots of amapiano, took shape there between the late 1980s and the 1990s. Now De Tories, a Soweto DJ and producer, adds 0y’funayo to that story with the Kagiso vocalist Chipii. The high-energy amapiano single came out on 4 September 2026, and it runs for seven minutes and forty-seven seconds.
De Tories & Chipii are in the playlist below, where 0y’funayo sits alongside other Afrobeat, Afro-pop and amapiano picks, and the pair’s artist profile gathers the rest of their coverage. The single reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Give it a listen, then keep reading for the Soweto story behind it.
Kwaito Took Shape in Soweto, and De Tories Built 0y’funayo From the Same Johannesburg Streets
De Tories, born Mohau Mokoena, works from Johannesburg. His own biography roots him in Soweto, which it calls dusty but ever-vibrant. That township matters to the story of his genre. Accounts of where amapiano began point to the Johannesburg townships. Some argue for Pretoria, and nobody has settled the question. What is agreed is the mix: kwaito, deep house, gqom, jazz, soul and lounge music. Piano lines and a wide, percussive bass known as the log drum hold it together.
The genre’s leading names tell the story the same way. Kabza De Small, a member of the Scorpion Kings, gained international recognition after Umshove in 2018. He has also credited the producer MDU with figuring out the log drum sound. That is the tradition De Tories works in, a producer’s sound built in the townships. In addition, amapiano is sung across most of South Africa’s official languages, from isiZulu and Sesotho to Setswana.
From Mozambique to Ke WAV, the Soweto Producer Has Built a Catalogue That Lagos Listens To
De Tories has been building his own catalogue since 2022, when his album Mozambique came out. After that, the releases came steadily. Ishubile arrived in 2023, and Dlala Ka Yona with Mavhi De Alpha and Lwandi Flex followed in 2024. Then came Famished in February 2025, Pretty Girls Love Sgidongo that October and the five-track Ke WAV in May 2026. His Spotify biography describes his sound as a blend of amapiano, electronic, house and dance. It also names Citykingrsa and DrummeRTee924 among his collaborators.
However, the circuit he reaches is wider than Gauteng. At the time of writing, his five biggest Spotify cities are all in Nigeria, led by Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. That fits the way the sound now travels. Nigeria has even developed its own blend, Afropiano, which mixes afrobeats with amapiano. At the top of the genre, the traffic runs both ways too. For example, DJ Maphorisa, one of South Africa’s best-known producers, has production credits with Nigeria’s Wizkid and with Kabza De Small.
Chipii Brings Her Voice From Kagiso, the Township Whose Name Means Peace in Tswana
Chipii grew up in Kagiso, a township just south of Krugersdorp. According to her biography, she has been singing since her creche days. At 11, she appeared on season seven of SA’s Got Talent, where her performance earned a standing ovation. She then made her official debut on Ke WAV, with features on Happy Birthday, Zasha and Thiba Dipotla.
0y’funayo follows as the second single credited to the pair, after Happy Birthday. It came out through 360 Tories, the label named on De Tories’ Audiomack page. Meanwhile, the official visualiser went up on his YouTube channel on the same day. The track is high-energy amapiano that pulls in house and electronic music, which is the blend his Spotify biography describes.
De Tories and Chipii Keep 0y’funayo at Full Club Length, Nearly Eight Minutes for the Dance Floor
The length is the clearest thing the scene put into the record. At seven minutes and forty-seven seconds, 0y’funayo is cut for the dance floor rather than for radio. As a result, a DJ has plenty of room to bring it in and mix out of it. It also suits the circuit De Tories comes from, since he works as a DJ as well as a producer.
From the AfroMusic.News Curator Team: “What we like most is that 0y’funayo keeps its full club length. Nearly eight minutes gives a DJ room to build. Pairing a Soweto producer with a vocalist from Kagiso also keeps the record rooted in Gauteng.”
So for fans of producer-led amapiano, 0y’funayo is a good way into a newer part of the scene.
Stream 0y’funayo on Spotify and watch the official visualiser in the video above. Then follow De Tories on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Audiomack, YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook. Chipii is on Spotify, Instagram and TikTok.
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