Despite not being as commercially successful as some of their other amapiano counterparts, amapiano duo MFR Souls have long been recognised as the first amapiano artists to really make the sound commercially viable.
During their discussion with another amapiano pioneer, Mr JazziQ, on the “JazziQ and Friends” podcast, the typically reclusive duo boldly proclaimed they were the originators of the trailblazing sound and that amapiano was born out of Katlehong, where they’re from.
When JazziQ probed the origins of the genre, Force Reloaded looked into the camera and responded: “Hi guys, our name is MFR Souls, and we came up with the sound, you know, with the help of the other gents.
“But we’re just letting you know. So the sound is originally from Katlehong, not Soweto.”
JazziQ later clarified: “Amapiano started in South Africa. Amapiano was introduced by Force Reloaded and Maero.”
After Maero interjected to add that it was invented in his mom’s room, JazziQ gave them their flowers: “We’re very thankful to you guys (be)cause a lot of lives have changed (be)cause of you guys.”
Fans weighed in through the comments section and gave the guys their flowers for their contributions to the success of the genre over the years.
One commented: “They used to shy away from the fact that they created amapiano. I’m glad that they can now acknowledge and actually own it. Good for you brothers!”
On Instagram, Lady Du commented on a clip of the interview by sharing her bewilderment that she worked with them so long ago.
“The fact that I have a song with you guys that I recorded when I was 16 years old is wild 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂,” she said.
During the podcast, MFR Souls also took the opportunity to announce that they had an EP with MDU, aka TRP.
They also added that while they had a couple of songs with Kabza de Small, they were yet to decide if those songs would form part of an EP or just standalone singles.
“We have a lot of songs with Kabza; they’re just sitting. They’re just idling there. We also have an EP coming with JazziQ. We’re also going to be working with Virgo Deep, and we’re just open to working with everyone, whether you’re underground or not.”