Top Songs of 2025: South Africa

Apple Music’s end-of-year charts are based on plays between November 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025. Not only did the freight-train-like charge of amapiano not falter in 2025; it seems to have gained even more momentum. For the second year running, DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small sit comfortably at the top of the South African music mountain, extending their Scorpion Kings legacy with multiple entries across the top 100. Their historic Scorpion Kings Live takeover of Loftus Stadium—where an estimated 50,000 fans gathered to celebrate a decade of the genre—felt like a national victory lap, proof that amapiano is very much still the rhythm of the country’s pulse. This was also the year 3-step broke from the underground, JAZZWRLD and Thukuthela transforming a once-niche style pioneered by Thakzin into a chart-topping force. We’d be remiss not to shout out the rising lekompo movement and its voice of the moment Shandesh making her presence felt with Mvzzle collaborations “Di Chopper” and “Sdudla or Slender,” the success of which points to just how fast the sound is catching on across the country.