DJ Maphorisa has released the official music video for Sorry Batswadi Baka, and it is out now on his YouTube channel. The credits read like a group chat that got out of hand: XDuppy, Focalistic and Optimist share the billing, with Sia The Bee, Beekay, Key-Tech, Zelaa Force, Terra Fontain and Tyler ICU all featured. That makes ten names on one record.
The Maphorisa method
Crowded line-ups are close to a house style for Maphorisa. He has spent years as one of South Africa’s busiest connectors, a producer and DJ who builds records around chemistry between artists rather than one headline voice. His run with Kabza De Small as Scorpion Kings helped put amapiano on the global map, and he has kept acting as a talent scout and matchmaker ever since.
Having Focalistic on board fits that pattern. The Pretoria rapper made his name by pairing fast, punchy Sepitori bars with amapiano production, and he is a natural fit for a track with this many voices. Tyler ICU, who had one of the biggest amapiano hits of 2023 with Mnike, adds another proven name to the mix.
What to expect
The title and description do not say much about the sound or the concept, so we will not pretend to know what the video is going for. What the credits do tell you is that this is a posse record, where the fun is in hearing who takes which stretch and how the voices bounce off each other. With so many artists sharing the load, the video should show off the whole crew rather than a single star.
It had passed 300,000 views not long after going up, a decent start for a release built on collaboration. Press play and see which of the ten leaves the strongest impression.
