South Africa: Joe Nina's 'Sbali' Gets Amapiano Makeover

20 October 2023

Joe Nina's "Sbali" song has been remade once again, this time by the Hullabaloos.

The kwaito song was originally released in 1997, topping various music charts in South Africa and abroad, and went on to win the Sama and Metro FM awards.

In 2014 it was remixed, giving it a house feel.

The boy group Hullabaloo's four members - friends Sibonelo Mngwevu, Sibusiso Maisa, Sibulelo Mngwevu and Sihle Makhalima - always looked up to Nina..

In an interview with Scrolla.Africa, Sibonelo said that, growing up, they always wanted to work with the legendary musician

"When we knocked on his door pleading for him to work with us we feared that he would turn us down because we are amapiano artists. [But] he encouraged us to incorporate African sounds into our music."

During one of their sessions in the studio, the group asked Nina to do a remake of "Sbali" incorporating house, amapiano and a touch of kwaito.

"This took a lot of convincing and many takes in the studio until we got it right.

"We wanted to give it a twist of the modern sound so that young music lovers would be able to relate to the song," Sibonelo said.

The new version of the song does not detract from the original version and the young musicians also added hip-hop lyrics to it, giving it a modern vibe.

The single was released in April and will be part of an EP released by Nina's music stable, Killatunes. Other releases by the stable include Mabusi's single "Luphelile", Boitumelo's "Stay with Me", and legendary musician Babsy Mlangeni's latest single, "Kumnandi".

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