If you listen to Amapiano you most probably know the Musketeers song ‘Danko’; but do you know what Danko means?

Danko means “thank you”. This word comes from the birth place of Amapiano – Pretoria. Danko is derived from the Afrikaans word for thank you – dankie. In the Pretoria dialect called S’pitori, they then made it “danko”.

The main languages spoken in Pretoria are seTswana, sePedi, xiTsonga, Afrikaans and English. S’pitori is a mixture of mainly seTswana and sePedi – with touches of other languages that are spoken in Pretoria. S’pitori is like a language of its own that is understood by Pretoria natives. They call Pretoria ‘Pitori’ hence their language S’pitori.

Pretoria birthed something that we can take to the world that is ours – a culture through music, Amapiano. Amapiano has not only taken over the airwaves and the dance floors; it has become a culture that we all love and embrace. From the late Killer Kau, “Kokota piano” to the great Kabza de Small, “Lyoziphele ilockdown isisho ilogdrum – the lockdown will end and the log drum will remain.”

On behalf of the rest of the country to the capital city, “Danko Pitori!”

If you enjoyed this, you may like Amapiano: The sounds of Ekasi here

Tell us: Are you from Pitori? Or have you visited there recently?