Kabza De Small creates high-quality work at a high-volume rate. As a solo artist and one-half of the Scorpion Kings, his discography, especially in the last three calendar years, is a marvel to sort through. It includes albums like’Scorpion Kings’ and’I Am The King of Amapiano: Sweet & Dust’, projects that helped define Amapiano and expand its commercial viability. There’s also a sprawling line of classic, smash singles, with the most recent including “Abalele,” Young Stunna’s “Adiwele,” and “Asibe Happy”—yes, let’s count the leaks.

Even though he’s not be outwardly prolific in recent times, Kabza has clearly been working as obsessively as ever, evidenced by the staggered release of his new 50-track LP, ‘Pretty Girls Love Amapiano 3’. The new project is collaborative release with fellow pioneering Amapiano producer, MDU aka TRP. In a recent conversation with legendary producer Oskido, Kabza revealed that MDU was responsible for figuring out the log drum, which is not only a staple of Amapiano but also a defining element of the Dance subgenre.

 

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While MDU is not necessarily on the same plane of reverence as Kabza, his influence clearly looms large, with a lengthy collaboration list that includes Focalistic and Mr Jazziq, as well as a collaborative project with Semi Tee earlier this year, which spawned the Sir Trill-assisted hit, “Isingisi.” Having worked with Kabza on several occasions, MDU sharing the bill on ‘PGLA3’ is an expansive extension of their musical kinship, even though the title continues the lineage of a series by his colleague. In between the Scorpion Kings run in 2019, Kabza dropped the first instalments of the ‘Pretty Girls Love Amapiano’ series, setting the tone for its instrumental-centred and vocal-scant approach.

Over the next five weeks, ten songs from ‘PGLA3’ will be released every Friday, until the set is complete on December 2^nd. It’s a smart move, considering how much of data dump 50 songs is, and the overwhelming task of getting through it all at once—10 songs each week seems bite-sized by comparison. The first ten songs have already been shared, and they set the tone for the album, which is MDU and Kabza De Small expressing themselves through drum patterns, piano chords, and whatever instrumental embellishments they see fit. The only song of the first ten with any sort of vocals is “Dlala,” which features illegible murmurs by DJ Maphorisa.

The first set of songs also include heavy contributions from Piano Hub affiliates and “Sgija” producer-duo, Nkulee 501 and Skroef 28, with co-production credits on four tracks. In the next few weeks, more collaborations will be unveiled and perhaps more vocal tracks, but the first set of songs on ‘PGLA3’ shows that MDU and Kabza De Small indulged in whatever creative whims they felt like while making the album.

You can listen to ‘Pretty Girls Love Amapiano 3’ here.

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