2Point1 amapiano duo say winning two Samas is surreal

If you’re wondering where the heatwave is coming from? 2Point1 is the answer.

The music duo cemented its staying power at the weekend after their smash hit Stimela (featuring Ntate Stunna) scooped the only two public-voted categories (Record of the Year and Music Video of the Year) at the 29th annual SA Music Awards (Samas).

The sonic pair, comprised of Prince Baloyi, 31 and Moeketsi Rathebe, 33, from Welkom in the Free State, has reached impressive heights with a reported 10-million streams on digital music platforms and 23-million views on YouTube. But how did it all start?

“We met through our mutual friend Mpolokeng Maome. She and Moeketsi were classmates at the same high school,” Baloyi told Sowetan. 

“Whenever I’d be with her, she’d always tell me I needed to meet her friend, Moeketsi. In 2009, Mpolokeng told Moeketsi there was someone she would like him to meet because she thought we had many similarities. We met shortly after and we’ve been friends since.”

They then started building a bond based on their love for log drums, acoustic instrumentals and catchy beats, giving birth to their idiosyncratic stage-name, 2Point1, which means two musicians merged into one to consolidated sound. 

“We always try to make sure our music and delivery is on point, like our name. We do everything together, from composing music to now winning together,” Baloyi said.

Rathebe added: “This weekend felt surreal… it felt like a dream because we couldn’t believe that we actually won the two important awards of that day. It took us a day to actually believe it. We started believing it after we saw the amount of people posting congratulatory messages on social media.”

While the group was founded over a decade ago, the duo is grateful to receive recognition as one of the trailblazers of amapiano. 

“We feel very proud knowing where we’ve come from, the time invested in our career over a decade trying to get this kind of recognition in the South African music industry, and it is so overwhelming because no artists from Free State have ever reached such a milestone independently,” Rathebe said. 

“This shows that whatever we were trying to pursue or were pushing is finally making sense now because it was difficult to convince our parents to believe in us when we first started out. At least they are now starting to believe that one can have a career in the music industry.” 

Rathebe added that the fame bug hasn’t bitten them yet and they are working hard to secure collaborations with music maestros such as Master KG, DJ Maphorisa, Malome Vector, Azana and other up-and-coming artists. 

“We are more focused on making our listeners proud and happy through our music… fame is the last thing on our minds,” Rathebe said.

“We appreciate the love and support and we will continue to bring them great music.”