Amapiano has become the dominant sound of South Africa’s youth culture. DJ Vigro Deep is one of the most recognizable figures in the genre as his music has been commanding dance floors across the country. His run in the last three years has been unmatched, especially for an artist his age.
Since breaking out in 2018, Vigro Deep’s vigorous productions have made him an undisputed amapiano wizard. At just 17, he became a revered DJ/producer after the widespread success of his seminal hits “Black Power” and “Untold Stories,” which brought electro synths and banging drums to amapiano. Born Kamogelo Phetla in Atteridgeville, South Africa in 2001. His father, Victor Ngcongwana has been a major influence on how he navigates his creative and business endeavours. The legendary house DJ is one of the founding members of The Godfathers of Deep House South Africa. And while Ngcongwana has been instrumental in Vigro becoming a musician, he had very little to do with the progression of his son’s career. “My dad was doing this nostalgia deep house—I think that’s what they call it,” Vigro recounts of introductory phase into House music production. “There were producers of that genre, which is a sound where it has automation of electro sounds, so I decided to make songs that sounded like those and try to make it unique.”
The release of the Baby Boy trilogy earned him two SAMA nods – one for Best Kwaito/Gqom/Amapiano for, “Baby Boy III” and Best Produced Album for his contribution to DJ Maphorisa’s and Kabza De Small’s, “Scorpion King”.
And while Vigro has established a staple sound, he has decided to switch his style with the release of, “The Rise of a Baby Boy.” This album signifies his growth as a musician and as a man. He fuses amapiano with jazz and R&B sensibilities and the record relies more on vocals than production in comparison to his previous works. The “Blue Monday” hitmaker followed his creative instincts and did not take any cues or inspiration from any other artists.
Through constant practice, imitating the sounds he was deeply fascinated by, and consistent tweaking, he landed on his signature sound. Testing out his early music through DJ friends who infused his songs into their club sets, the enthusiastic reactions they generated gave Vigro the confidence to start sharing his own projects.
His hits have helped secure the legacy of amapiano while propelling the genre to international acclaim. With an ear for memorable melodic riffs and a propensity to bang on percussion synths with a cavernous ferocity, the majority of Vigro’s instrumentation is a leviathan iteration on multiple influences.
While still obsessed with making the best music he can, Vigro has his sights on playing an integral role in Amapiano’s global incursion. “You know, I’m making music for the world … I want to bring something different to their ears because that’s what i'm about”
