Davido joins remix of amapiano hit Biri Marung

Originally released in South Africa, the song quickly spread beyond local audiences, spending eight weeks at No. 1 on the BMAT chart and remaining in the Top 30 for 25 consecutive weeks. To date, it has accumulated 33 million streams worldwide.

The track has also gained significant traction on social media. On TikTok, it has inspired more than 4.2 million user creations and generated 5.6 billion views. It has also been searched 2.7 million times on Shazam.

South African producer DJ Maphorisa explained how the collaboration with Davido came about: “We were in Nigeria last year some time and ‘Biri Marung’ had just dropped. Since the reception of the song was so big I thought it would be great for Ego Slimflow and Mr Pilato to come with me to perform it there. While we were there it dawned on me to make a remix with Davido.”

The remix introduces new instrumentation while retaining the original’s core elements. The aim, according to its creators, was to fuse amapiano and Afrobeats in a way that could appeal to both South African and Nigerian audiences.

Ego Slimflow, one of the artists behind the track, reflected on its reception: “The reception from the world has been incredible. Sometimes we doubt how powerful music really is, but this journey has been a blessing and a constant reminder of its impact.”

With amapiano’s popularity continuing to expand globally, industry figures view collaborations with established Afrobeats artists as key to building the genre’s international presence. DJ Maphorisa added: “Amapiano is still a baby and as time goes by collaboration will lead to the growth of the sound globally. Afrobeats have been around and keep growing. The genre has reached a level where amapiano hasn’t yet. If Afrobeats artists embrace it and want to endorse the sound, it really pivots us in the right direction to showcase Africa’s versatile sound.”