Cassper Nyovest’s Tito Mboweni: An Effort To Recapture Lightning In A Bottle

Words by Phil Chard

I got a Bentley and a Bentley. Major League in this bitch

Cassper Nyovest's third album Thuto drops on the 7th of May and "Abuti Fill Up" dropped his first official single off the album titled Tito Mboweni - a song named after the South African reserve bank governor.

Upon first listen it feels like Cassper is trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that created his epic rise to stardom. Much like his 2014 release Doc Shebeleza , the song is titled after a notable person in South African culture and the song also borrows heavily from American Trap influencers.

New Cassper drops on the 7th of May. Who is copping? pic.twitter.com/Nmr9SmHK8Y

— African Hip Hop Blog (@AfricanHHB) March 1, 2017

However unlike Doc Shebeleza I don't see this single capturing the zeitgeist of the South African Hip Hop audience the way the former release did. Firstly because the Gemini Major produced Tito Mboweni is a blatant copy and paste of the sound and delivery that Future has been pushing for over two years. From the beat to the cadence and delivery. Future's name is plastered all over this release.

Read Gemini Major Departs From Family Tree

It's not the first time that Cassper has borrowed elements from other rappers, but now it feels like he's gotten away with it so much he's pushing the envelope further and further. Cassper doesn't even try to hide where he got the inspiration for the song as he copies the hook from Future's and Drake's 2015 release Jumpman. The copy job continues on the last 4 bars of the song as Cassper adopts an inaudible rapid-fire flow reminiscent of previous Future releases.

Cassper is clearly an artist at a crossroads in his professional career. He's no longer the underdog. He's no longer trying to build a brand, he's now fighting to maintain it. It's a lot harder to replicate success when everyone is looking at you and you have to deliver. He's proven he can create a hit and deliver a hot verse. But producing a steady stream of (original) hit singles is still something he is yet to master.

The Last Night Of The Refiloe Album Tour In Pictures

by Phil Chard

Cassper Nyovest and rest of the Family Tree roster performed in the last leg of their successful Refiloe Album Tour in Bloemfontein. The tour saw the rapper and his label signees performing across South Africa as well as dates in Botswana and Namibia. Ofentse Tsie managed to catch the special moments from this date.

In retrospect, whatever numbers the tour pulled in, it was a great move forward for the Cassper Nyovest and Family Tree brand. Now we all look forward to see how Cassper will fair when as he attempts to Fill Up Orlando Stadium.

DJ Vigilante – Ayeye Featuring Cassper Nyovest & Carpo

by Phil Chard

Many moons ago DJ Vigilante and Cassper were were not seeing eye to eye . If my memory serves the beef was sparked by the 2014 MTV Base Hottest MC list when DJ Vigi commented that Cassper's album Tsholofelo was all over the place and as a result Cassper was given the number 2 spot , while DJ Vigi's label mate K.O was awarded the peak position. Cassper did not take too well to the perceived snub and went to twitter to vent . Things quickly devolved and a few weeks later a set of not so subtle jabs were thrown at the DJ on Cassper's song Beef.

Well now 2 years on, it looks like the 2 have buried the hatchet and are now working together. On the song Ayeye produced by Air-Dee and Gemini Major the song has the signature elements rooted in Kwaito and 90s House that Cashtime artists seem to favour. Cassper however is once again his growth as an artist with an impressive delivery that suits his style perfectly. This new Cassper is becoming a serious problem. cass

It's now or never time to put the test on the fundamentals

My own numbers got me under a lot of pressure

Mirror mirror tell me who the boss in this kind of setup setup

I remember,started with Gusheshes & Caravellas. Now these WRAPPERS is taking SWEET (shots) like its (Amaretto). Don't sleep on the word play

— FillUpOrlandoStadium (@CassperNyovest) August 12, 2016

Cassper Nyovest Featuring Casey Veggies – 428 To LA (Official Video)

by Phil Chard

Well over a year since Cassper released the song 428 To LA which first appeared on the platinum edition of his debut album Tsholofelo and was mysteriously included on his sophomore album Refiloe we now have the visuals for the Anatii produced song.

When I spoke to Cassper last year the rapper spoke of his intentions to shoot the video in LA with Cassey Veggies. During his recent trips to the United States Cassper got his wish and linked up with the rapper to produce a video that Cassper directed himself. The video features scenes of Cassper lapping up American culture in New York and LA as Cassper and Anatii meet up with a plethora of celebrities including Black Though, Naughty By Nature, DJ Drama and culminating in his interview on Sway.

Considering the timing of the release (the song is now an album old) it doesn't look like Cassper invested too much into its production. Cassper has also spoken of his intention to shoot a video for his Game assisted song Cooking In The Kitchen. Whether or not he was able to shoot it during his trip will become clear soon.

Cassper Nyovest – Mr Madumane (Big $pendah) [Official Video]

by Phil Chard

If you were paying attention to Cassper Nyovest’s social media lately, particularly his Facebook page you would have noticed that he was posting number of anomalous posts that showed Cassper buying food on bulk, renting out his beloved Kyalami home to prospective Airbnb guests and emphasizing the importance of using all htd ketchup in the bottle

I could tell the posts were sponsored by someone but it wasn't until yesterday that it was revealed that Cassper and his good friend Pearl Thusi had been recruited by the Sanlam Group to be part of their National Savings Month Campaign.

Earlier today Cassper invited a number of media and guests to a private Joburg launch of his single and video Mr Madumane (Big $pendah) a song tied to that campaign where the Maftown rapper speaks about the dangers of conspicuous spending. The video follows that motif as Cassper uses recycled and retro items throughout the video.

In the past few months as Cassper has embarked on his album tour we've seen him evolve his social media and content release strategy , engaging more with fans via live video streams and dropping more “rappity rap” type songs. This shift could possibly be a result of his partnership with Red Flag Marketing.

I'm not a particular fan of brand commissioned songs but if this release at least gets Cassper's fans to rethink their spending habits and save up more then I'm all for it. I'm also all for the brand Cassper is evolving into. It seems the Maftown rapper is understanding how to better navigate his celebratory and music as he plans on filling up Orlando Stadium on the 29th of October.

fuos

Rappers Stop Telling People We Aren’t Offended by The N Word

by Phil Chard

The way societies view celebrity has always been an enigma to me. An artist will become famous because they are a talented musician; they will be loved and lauded because of those talents. But for some reason, we expect these people to be infallible and all-knowing on the issues that matter to us when, in reality, most celebrities are just humans. Humans with an incredible talent. It's why, as the famous Dave Chappelle joke goes, news outlets ran to interview Ja Rule to get his opinion after the 9/11 attacks.

News outlets rush to call celebrities after a tragedy for the same reasons we follow their every move on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. Iit because an artist's opinion holds more value than anyone else's because of the influence and following they yield. We're more likely to trust their opinion because they are famous. We'll align ourselves to the politics of our favourite singer simply because their music has touched us in some way. Brands seek for endorsement from celebrities off of this principle of blind trust.

When one of our celebrities on the African continent is granted an interview on a non-African platform, they not only represent themselves, they represent their home nation and Africa as whole (because Africa is a country and what not).

I was perturbed when two of South Africa's biggest rappers were granted interviews on Sway in the morning which broadcasts from America to the millions of listeners of Sirius XM's network (not to mention Sway's 1 million YouTube subscribers). On both occasions the rappers went onto the show and declared that nigga isn't considered a racial epithet in South Africa. They did this while also misrepresenting the origins of kaffir.

When asked about the N-word, Cassper said:

"For us it's like guy. It's just means 'man'.It's never had that racial connotation...We don't get offended when white people say 'nigga to us. For us it's kaffir.....that is like our nigga,....that's what would aggravate or agitate us, that's what they use to call black people, kaffir which means monkey."

Cassper was possibly conflating kaffir with Bobbejaan

AKA was on Sway’s show and got asked about the word’s meaning. His response?

"Well, for us basically if you're a person of colour, you see me, I'm a coloured person and in America that means something totally different.....when we say [nigga], that is something we learned from rap music....even on our commercial radio stations they don't edit the word nigga..... It has no legacy it has no offense to it"

Here is the video of Cassper saying he doesn't get offended when white people call him the N word pic.twitter.com/90P91s7eBx

— Phlynt Phlossy™ (@PhilChard) June 24, 2016

When Sway then asked about the K-word, AKA responded: "You see I don't even wanna say it." He went on to attribute the origins of the K-word, saying that it is some substitute for a monkey.

Firstly, the word Kaffir is derived from the Arabic term Kafara or Kãfir which mean "outsider" or "non believer". It is believed that Arab nomads would refer to the black populace of Southern Africa as Kaffir because they were not practising Muslims and were not of their culture. Around the 18th century white settlers pitched up on our shores and since they couldn't think up their own slurs they appropriated the term used by the Muslim Arabs and shifted it from a simple adjective into an incredibly painful slur used to dehumanise and oppress our ancestors.

The storied origins of the K- and N-words follow parallel paths. It is is widely believed that the word nigger was a derived from the negro or niger (Latin word for black); or nigré (a French pejorative term). Once again, the descriptor was twisted into a painfully biased and powerful term that was used to justify the abhorrent treatment of a people for over 400 years. Both words are extremely powerful and elicit strong emotions, especially amongst those who have had those words used against them.

AKA's refusal to even mention the word is a sign of that.

Today, the words carry different meanings in the respective societies in which they are used.

In America a group of black people attempted to reclaim the word and used it as a term of endearment. I discovered Hip Hop as an adolescent. I heard all of my favourite artists use it freely. I, too, rationalised that we had indeed reclaimed the word and it no longer held power. I recoil when I think back to a time when I would allow white friends to use the word around me as well.

As an adult, I know better.

A few years ago Trevor Noah tried to do the same with the K-word in his special That's Racist. He tried to reclaim it in the hopes of removing the word's power. He argued that to remove the word’s power we should start using the K-word positively, in a similar way to how black America reclaimed the N-Word. Thankfully those efforts failed and were frankly painful to watch . The reasons behind why the N-word is such a divisive word in America and why it is still so powerful and loaded in South Africa require more in-depth discussion. I encourage you to read this and this.

The N-word gaining popularity amongst Africans via Hip Hop culture, and it being seen as a term of endearment, does not erase the pain linked to it. That much is clear when observing how black people in America struggle to find the word's place in their society and how offensive it still is when a non-black person uses it.

Cassper said that we don’t get offended when white people use nigga on us. It’s important to separate Cassper's own feelings about the word from the feelings of people at large. If Cassper has absolutely no issue with being called a nigga by a white person, then that is his personal choice. However, I know a number of South Africans and people in Southern Africa (where the K word was widely used by white oppressors) who would be extremely offended if a white person used that word.

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By framing their answers in the way they did, Cassper and AKA have made it seem like we appropriate the parts of American Hip Hop culture that we like while completely ignoring the significance and history of words like nigga and the pain associated with them

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What both artists failed to articulate is that words mean things, and that the context in which words are used is very important. As we've seen, these two words were derived from adjectives and twisted into something more sinister. In isolation, the words have no power. But when they are loaded with the hate and oppression that coupled their use, the words acquire a new meaning, in much the same way that an innocent word, when used in a racist context, takes on a new meaning.

Let's look at the word monkey, for example. When I was a precocious and adventurous child my sister and I would often climb the trees in our yard. It was great fun but it also resulted in a few scrapes, falls and bone breakages. My mother would call me a monkey. I know for a fact now that my mother's use of the word was not rooted in hate. Just the other day, AKA himself referred to his beautiful daughter as a monkey. No logical human would dare assume ill-intent.

It's this monkey's bday tomorrow 💜😂 pic.twitter.com/pcwF67lrnj

— AKA (@akaworldwide) July 7, 2016

SparrowWhen Penny Sparrow, a white woman, used the word monkey to describe black people on the beach front, we automatically knew the context and intent of her usage of that word.

If a friend of mine were to call me a nigga, I would understand the context. Are AKA and Cassper saying that they wouldn’t be offended by a white person referring to them as niggas?

Are they saying that even if they were called a nigga by white person in America they would fail to recognise its significance?

The N-word may not have any real cultural legacy in this part of the world, but the Africans that live here understand fully the context behind the word. By framing their answers in the way they did, Cassper and AKA have made it seem like we appropriate the parts of American Hip Hop culture that we like while completely ignoring the significance and history of words like nigga and the pain associated with them. Those frustrations were evident in some of the calls both rappers took from listeners while on Sway’s show.

In the same token, we as Africans need to interrogate why we even use such a word in the first place. Why do we want to carry the burden of using a word created by oppressors who look a lot like the people that oppress us, and who used a word to hurt people that look alot like us in the first place?

The AHHB Podcast Featuring King Dizo, Ghana Rap Beefs & Racial Slurs

by Phil Chard

AHHB Podcast V 2

The AHHB podcast is back once again with another incredible episode filled with news and music from across the continent. This week we play music from Sarkodie and M.anifest as their lyrical back and forth heats up as well as music from Yung Swiss, Truey Donatello, Poe. The podcast also features an interview with our #FeatureFridays winners King Dizo after we discuss Cassper Nyovest’s appearance on Sway In The Morning in the USA.

Mixed Bag Mondays XLII | The Best Of Soundcloud Vol II

by Phil Chard

Vol II Front

The AHHB is always looking for new ways to ensure we are providing with our fans with the most exhaustive and comprehensive coverage of the music from the continent . With that in mind we have created a new mixtape series that will feature some of the best music on Soundcloud that we have come across that has not featured on the blog.

The Best Of Soundcloud mixtape series shares some of our favourite African Hip Hop songs from Soundcloud and is precursor to a lot of exciting things that we have planned.

In our second mixtape we have music from the budding musical back and forth between Sarkodie and M.anfest, as well music from Modenine, Wizkid, E.L, Holstar, Xtatic, Cassper Nyovest and many more. The full track list is below, enjoy the music and be sure to share your thoughts and opinions for what we should include on Volume 3

Sarkodie – Kanta

Xtatic – Composure Featuring Lazr Beam

GZE - Vavhurirei Mukova Featuring Sister Flame

Cass – Soudy Soudy

Shane Eagle – Cutting Corners

Tshego – Tell Em Say Featuring. Cassper Nyovest, Gemini Major & Nasty C

Tay Grin – Kanda Featuring Sonye & Orezi

Karizma – Shisha Pipe

Xtatic – BIGH Featuring Devour Ke Lenyora

E.L – Talk Don’t Bother Me

WizKid – Shabba Featuring Chris Brown, Trey Songz & French Montana

Shakes – All Night Featuring Kick

Holstar – Nipempako Featuring Jane Jonanzi

M,anifest – god MC

FOKN Bois Talking Drum

Nathi Mankayi - Nomvula Saga Featuring Naakmusiq, ShoutOutSA & Kwesta

DJ Azuhl – Gimme That Gem Featuring. EJ Von Lyrik, Ben Caesar, Teba

Cassper Nyovest – Same Chair As Kanye

Frank Casino – Whole Thing

Boybreed – Slowly (Remix) Feauring Patoranking

Modenine – No Matter What Featuring Maka

Medikal – Connect Featuring Sarkodie, E.L, Joey B, Kofi Kinaata, Criss Waddle, Omar Sterling & Yaa Pono

VOL II Tracklist

I Live Tweeted Cassper Nyovest’s Interview On Sway In The Morning

by Phil Chard

South African rapper Cassper Nyovest is currently in the USA for the BET Awards which will be taking place later this weekend. Before heading to LA, Cassper stopped by Sway Calloway's show in New York for an interview where the veteran Hip Hop journalist discussed Cassper's career , South African Hip Hop and the rise of African music as whole in the West.

The significance of this event was not lost on Cassper as he rapped "Back home they are listening and hoping I don't flop/I feel like the whole fucking continent is on my shoulders!" during his freestyle yet somehow I can't help but feel that he was somewhat unprepared to deal with the gravity of the moment. The sad truth s that when any African artist is allowed to be featured on a major Western platform they not only represent themselves but they also represent their nation, culture and the continent by extension. It may not be fair or right, but that is how the world works. So I couldn't help but feel disappointed when Cassper Nyovest proclaimed that he is known as the Kanye west of South Africa......[insert appropriate meme gif here] Can those that truly believe this notion and have proclaimed t publicly please leave a comment on this post or tweet me.

He also made some incredibly irresponsible remarks about racial epithets and how they are viewed in South Africa before he was finally given a chance to display his lyrical prowess on a radio freestyle. As far Cassper lyrics go the freestyle was going well, despite the small issue of Cassper mumbling a few words and getting caught off beat as he rhymed (so truly par for the course). I did feel he was delivering far too many lines in English and should have ventured more into his native Setswana where he truly shines as rapper. Not really gonna dwell on him fumbling the verse and rack that up to the nerves.

The annoying thing is despite his missteps I hate to always have to call Cassper out when I feel he has done a lot that needs to be celebrated and acknowledged. I am a fan of his work but as always seems to be the case when you're a Hip Hop fan - ours faves always seem to fall over themselves to remind us of their blemishes.

Cassper Nyovest On Sway - Curated tweets by PhilChard

When Noisey Came To South Africa: The Problem When Outsiders Tell Our Stories

by Phil Chard

Last week Noisey released a documentary said to chronicle and document the growing Hip Hop scene in South Africa titled Born Free: Hip Hop in Johannesburg.

The 16 minute documentary chronicled the rise of the Hip Hop scene in South Africa as it focused on Cassper Nyovest and Riky Rick as its main subjects. (With cameos from Family Tree artists- Nadia Nakai & Gemini Major and the Major League Twins).

Though it was great to see the culture of South African and African Hip Hop at large portrayed on a platform as large as Noisey I did walk away with some gripes of how the culture was portrayed. Before I continue I think it's important that I mention that I am massive fan of Noisey and their parent Company Vice. It would be a massive omission on my part if I didn't share that I have always looked at what Vice has done as the template to running a successful culture and music blog enterprise. Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi have been two individuals that I look up to and one hope to replicate their path to success.

Now that that's out the way, this doccie, as well intentioned as it may have been had some gaping holes in its narrative. Holes big enough for Cassper to drive his tour bus through that lead me to question the level of research that went into making such an offering

The documentary sets out to document South Africa's growing Hip Hop scene amongst "born free" artists using their new found freedom to express themselves and speak to youth of the nation from the perspective of Cassper Nyovest and Ricky Rick. In doing so however it fails to address several issues. Mainly because they look to tackle an incredibly complex and layered issue that has been influenced by multitude of people, yet the documentary chooses to use a very limited scope of focus.

In the film Fillippa Von Stackelberg (no relation) conducts her interviews at the following locations,

Cassper Nyovests home

The home of Cassper's parents

A few locations in Tembisa

Major League Gardens.

For a documentary set to document the growth of South African Hip Hop these are very restrictive locations that will only give you a very focused and limited experience of the movement as a whole.

In the documentary Cassper notes the massive influence Kwaito and the Pantsula sub culture had on his music. However the doccie completely ignores the massive role Kwaito played in shaping the sound and style and South African pop culture and chooses to focus on the Pantsula dance movement instead. While doing so it focuses on the sights of the culture at expense of the sound. It also never fully explains the connection that Hip Hop has to Pantsula.

The documentary also completely ignores the generation of rappers of rappers who came before Cassper and Riky Rick that helped create the fertile culture that has allowed the current crop of artists to reap from it.

Even with its laser focus on Cassper the documentary still leaves holes. While speaking to Cassper it briefly discusses his influences, before speaking to his father and grandmother about his decision to make music and then speaking to him again at the culmination of the documentary after his performance at Major League Gardens, which, it paints as a massive achievement in his career. At no point does the documentary even broach the bigger landmark achievement of when Cassper successfully filled up the Dome. Nor does it even explore the incredible effect Doc Shebeleza had on the continent. Though Cassper's performance at Major League Gardens could be seen as another sign of the incredible growth of the culture it was in fact a bigger achievement for the Major League Twins.

The Mbere twins achieved something incredible that night. With an all-South African line up consisting mainly of Hip Hop acts they managed to cram close to 15,000 kids into Nasrec arena for an event that they promoted themselves. An incredible achievement that left me in awe that was clearly ignored by those unfamiliar with the struggles Hip Hop acts on this continent endure. A few years ago Hip Hop generating such numbers was a rare and lauded achievement. Instead the twins were reduced to extras in the documentary only appearing beside Riky Rick while he is interviewed. The events at Major League Gardens and Back To the City coupled with the new 90% local content mandate at the SABC point to a massive cultural shift occurring in South Africa, one that will change the face of the SA music scene for years to come, yet not a peep about this was mentioned.

Secondary to the massive achievement that was Major League Gardens was the crowd it assembled. Consisting mainly of young adults and teenagers, the energy was electric and the fans showed their rabid support for south African Hip Hop in a big way. That same energy and love almost reduced Kwesta tears on stage. I witnessed a crowd sing Zola lyrics word for word from songs older than a decade, with a passion and verve so strong it was like those songs were radio hits on high rotation today. That was a noteworthy achievement that marked the growth and influence of South African Hip Hop and Kwaito on the youth that was also missed in this documentary.

A big clue as to what motivated the narrative of this story is in the end credits and the three words "Sponsored By BMW". It is after seeing this that I understood why the film made the very lose connection between Cassper's first big hit, Pantsula culture and spinning. It's hard to tell if the film is an ad wrapped in Hip hop culture to promote a brand or a documentary that was forced to short tweak its story in order to suit the requirements of a sponsor. In any event when you peel below the surface this is nothing more than an advertorial piece with native advertising that uses the culture we love as the hook.

Noisey created these lofty expectations with their misleading title and preamble only to disappoint. Had they marketed this as a piece on a week in Cassper Nyovest's life (which is what it essentially is) with the growing culture of SA Hip Hop and Cassper's influences taking a secondary role in the story I would have stood and applauded. But you cannot claim to be documenting the Hip Hop movement among "born frees" in Johannesburg and not venture into the vibrant Hip Hop scenes in Braamfontein, Newtown, Maboneng, Soweto and even Sandton. You cannot claim to speak on a movement and ignore all the those that influenced it. You cannot claim to be documenting the growth and ignore the massive achievements that were taking place in front of your very eyes that you somehow missed due to a limited understanding of the cultural movements and their significance at large.

While it is important to celebrate the growth of Hip Hop and make sure the world sees out story, we must also guard how these stories are shared very carefully.

I was at Major League Gardens that night. I witnessed Fillippa conduct a great deal of interviews backstage. I'm surprised that this is the end result. You can't begin to document a movement as diverse as the one in this documentary and compress it into a 16 minute offering.

Therein lies the problem. When we as fans, supporters, and reporters of this culture fail to document cultural movements and let outsiders tell the story for us, they will portray the narrative through their limited view lenses. This particular case, though it may have been well intentioned displays the dangers of allowing outside voices in that don't fully comprehend the scope of work that resulted in us reaching this point.

While it is important to celebrate the growth of Hip Hop and make sure the world sees out story, we must also guard how these stories are shared very carefully.

Cassper Nyovest – Skelm

by Phil Chard

For all his success and accomplishments the biggest knock against Cassper Nyovest has been his inconsistency as a rapper. The rapper who is an expert at crafting catchy songs and hooks has often failed to reach the lyrical and rap prowess he displayed on Doc Shebeleza and the Steve Kekana remix.

I see too many rappers and not enough CEOs. By default I am the best in the business

Until now…. On the hard hitting Skelm Cassper takes it back to the high energy, rapid fire flow in English and Setswana that made the whole industry stand up take notice. This is the type of song I have been waiting for Cassper to make. If he can maintain this level of expert delivery and lyricism he will continue to fill up many a stadium and impress Hip Hop heads like myself for many a year.

Produced by Gemini Major Cassper raps about betrayal, and his come up and how shady the game as he delivers lines about he and Carpo once ate Magwinya (Vetkoeks) with artcha, now they are eating sushi for a starter.

Cassper Nyovest Surprises A Lucky Fan With A Performance

by Phil Chard

Amstel Lager & Cassper Nyovest recently surprised one of the Maftown rapper’s fans with a performance at the Bannister Hotel in Johannesburg. Reginald Manamela got a massive treat when what he thought was a regular night out turned into a personalised concert after Cassper Nyovest popped out from behind the jukebox where Reginald selected Cassper’s last single Le Mpitse.

The Jukebox prank is part of Amstel’s #AmstelAmplified campaign that see the beverage brand partnering with South African artists to surprise unknowing fans. Back in March Amstel partnered with AKA to surprise one of his fans at a Karaoke events at the Hard Rock café.

[button url=http://www.amstel.co.za/ icon=laptop]You can get more information on the #AmstelAmplified campaign here[/button]