Cassper Nyovest

Refiloe Maele Phoolo
Cassper Nyovest at the 2014 Back to the City festival
Background information
Birth name Refiloe Maele Phoolo
Born (1990-12-16) 16 December 1990
Montshioa, Mafikeng, North West, South Africa
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active 2004–present
Labels Family Tree
Website casspernyovest.com

Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African recording artist and record producer.[1] His debut album Tsholofelo was released on 18 July 2014. He is currently signed to his own independent label and media company, Family Tree.[2]

Early life

Nyovest grew up in Montshioa in Mafikeng, the capital city of the North West province. He attended Lighthouse Christian College.[3] In school, he was athletic as he partook in various sports activities including football, cricket and basketball.[3] He started rapping when he was in grade 6, at the age of 12.

In grade 10, Nyovest failed his exams, and moved to his grandmother's house in Potchefstroom. Then the following year, at age 16, he decided to drop out of high school: "I told my parents that I'd rather chase my dream, which I believe is going to work out, rather than keeping it safe and regret it my whole life."[3] Nyovest relocated to Johannesburg the following year to pursue a career in music as a rapper and producer.

Musical career

2004–09: Early beginnings

In 2004, he was a member of a group called Childhood Gangsta (CHG) which later disbanded. He then joined an eight-member group Slow Motion , which included the production team Ganja Beatz .[4]

Nyovest dropped out of high school in 2006, left home and moved to Johannesburg. The following year, still at the age of 16, he was signed by the Motswako label " Impact Sounds ". After two years without a release, he left to start a label of his own to no avail — he moved back home.[5]

Months later, Motswako rapper HHP spotted Nyovest at a performance. HHP was impressed and featured him on his track " Wamo Tseba Mtho " from his seventh studio album Dumela.[6] Nyovest embarked on international tours with HHP where he gained exposure as an artist.[7] He has also shared stages with international acts such as Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Talib Kweli, Mlondi Caluza, TKz Marokane and Wiz Khalifa.[8] In the year 2014, Nyovest was involved in a highly publicised "beef" with fellow South African artist AKA, this led to both artists recording diss tracks about each other.

2013–14: Gusheshe, Doc Shebeleza & Tsholofelo

In 2013, he released "Gusheshe" as the first official single from his debut album, Tsholofelo.[9] The single was well received and playlisted across various radio stations in South Africa.[10] It was accompanied by a music video[11] which premiered on Vuzu's V-Entertainment.[12]

After "Gusheshe", he released his second single titled "Doc Shebeleza" which saw him gain major success. The song peaked at number 4 on South Africa's official music chart. The song received positive reviews from the public and other South African acts including Yvonne Chaka Chaka.[13]

His debut release, Tsholofelo, was released on 18 July 2014. It was number 1 on the iTunes South African albums chart for 2 consecutive months before being knocked off by Duncan's Street Government.

In October 2014, Nyovest was ranked number 1 on "The Hottest MC in Africa" list by [14]MTV Base.[15] Nyovest was also ranked number 2 on MTV Base's "SA's Hottest MC" list with K.O at number 1. Nyovest criticized the list because of DJ Vigilante's close affiliation with Cashtime Life rapper K.O. He stated that Vigilante should not have been on the ranking panel and showed his discontent with the list by releasing a song titled "Beef" in which he disses DJ Vigilante, AKA and K.O.[16] It quickly sparked controversy after which the rapper later apologized to K.O for a line on the song.

2015: Tsholofelo Platinum Edition and Refiloe

After the release of Tsholofelo, Nyovest hinted that he was in studio recording new music, presumably for his second album. He was pictured working with Casey Veggies, DJ Drama, Wizkid, and frequent collaborator Anatii. However, it would later be revealed that the songs were for the platinum edition of Tsholofelo. The platinum edition was released in 17 April 2015 with only 10,000 copies printed out.[17] Nyovest announced that he was planning to headline a concert on 31 October 2015 at the Ticket Pro Dome billed as "Fill Up the Dome" and release his sophomore album at the venue on the same day. He revealed the title of the album as Refiloe on 13 July 2015.[18] He mentioned that he wanted to fill the dome - which currently accommodates up to 20,000 people - to its full capacity. In a Twitter post, he explained that a ticket bought comes with a free album and that if he managed to fill the dome, Refiloe would go gold in a day. The album cover was released on 10 August via Nyovest's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.[19]

On 14 August 2015 the album's first single titled "Mama I Made It (#MIMI)" was released for purchase on iTunes and as a free download for 24 hours only.[20] Shortly after its release, it peaked at number 1 on iTunes South Africa chart, across all genres.[21] It was also playlisted across various radio stations in South Africa, most notably on DJ Fresh's "Fresh at 5" show on 5FM.[22] It was produced by Ganja Beatz, which Nyovest has worked with for a long time. On the same day, the American rapper Talib Kweli whom Nyovest had previously collaborated with on the "Doc Shebeleza" remix released his lead single off his album entitled "Fuck The Money" which features a guest verse by Nyovest.[23][24]

On 25 October 2015, Nyovest announced on his official Twitter account that tickets to the Fill Up The Dome concert were sold out. Each purchased ticket to the concert came with a complimentary copy of Refiloe, which each concert-goer received on 31 October 2015. In November 2015, Nyovest was named as the Hottest MC in South Africa by MTV Base Round table experts, he beat his rival AKA to top the list .[25] [26] Nyovest was also listed as the hottest MC in Africa by popular Nigeria music streaming blog industry experts, notjustok.com[27]

2016: Refiloe and Fill up Orlando Stadium

As of 13 January 2016, Refiloe was certified Platinum for shipments in excess of 40,000 copies domestically.[28] On 29 October 2016, Nyovest filled Orlando Stadium, a 40,000 capacity venue and it was indeed a game changing moment for the hip hop genre in South Africa and Africa as a whole. Nyovest is now often referred to as Mr. Fill Up by locals. Nyovest has already announced his plans to fill up FNB stadium, an 80,000 capacity stadium in December 2017.[29][30]

On 2 December 2016, MTV Base ranked Nyovest first on its list of South Africa's Hottest MCs of 2016. The list was compiled by a panel of judges, which included veteran rappers and influencers from South Africa. The list was based on these six pointers: impact, style, lyrics, sales, buzz, and other intangibles.[31][32]

On 31 December 2016 Nyovest was once again named as the Hottest Rapper in Africa . This list was compiled by a team of industry experts of one of Africa leading and most reputable music downloads and online publishers. [33]

Nyovest received a total of 9 nominations at the 2016 SA Hip Hop Awards.[34][35]

Nyovest was the big winner of the SA Hip Hop Awards 2016 held in December after receiving 9 nominations, as he bagged 4 awards on the night.[36] Nyovest was also named as the SOUND CITY MVP for Best Hip Hop Artist in Africa.[37]

2017–present: Thuto Album and Fill up FNB Stadium

Nyovest got a SAMA award for best collaboration for 'NGUD', a song by Kwesta featuring Nyovest. [38] On 10 October 2017, he was also awarded best Male Southern African by African Musiq Magazine Awards [39] Nyovest Thuto Album went Gold on the day of release [40] and within a few weeks it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) [41][42]

Nyovest Announced plans to fill up 75,000-capacity FNB Stadium in August.[43] On 17 November 2017 he announced that the tickets for the golden circle was 70% sold, and some notable performers for this concert were also revealed.[44]

With Nyovest initially finding it difficult to fund the show all by himself due to lack of sponsors, his biggest rival in SA hip hop, AKA, offered to perform at FNB Stadium for a fee of one million South African Rands and also insisted that their differences should be finally put to bed. This quickly got fans from both sides talking and it did contribute to the hype surrounding the whole show. However, Nyovest's management team rejected this offer from AKA.[45] [46] Kwesta threw his weight behind the concert and advised other hip hop acts to support this historic move and made it known to the fans that he is performing for free at the concert. Fans took this to be a slight dig at AKA who is also a good friend of Kwesta.[47]

Nyovest finally got three major brands to sponsor his show: Ciroc SA, SABC 1 and Budweiser.[48] On 2 December, Nyovest announced that 72,000 tickets were sold, compared to the attendance record of 68,000.[49]

Cassper Nyovest’s signature logo originates from the Cartoon Network checkerboard logo, which he mentioned on Twitter that he was inspired by the Cartoon Network.[50]

Endorsements

Nyovest partnered with AG Mobile in 2015 to release a phone that was inspired and partly designed by him named AG Hashtag.[51] Cassper also signed a sponsorship with Premium Vodka Brand Ciroc[52]

Personal life

In July 2015, after months of denying any romantic involvement with each other, Nyovest and actress Boitumelo Thulo finally confirmed in a July issue of DRUM that they were dating. This issue of the magazine article contained that the couple was engaged but they later came out to deny an engagement.[53] The couple broke up in December 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

Accolades

Nyovest has been awarded and nominated for various music awards both locally and internationally. His first set of awards were in 2013 when he won four awards at the second edition of the South Africa Hip Hop Awards .[54]On the 13th Of April, He received a nomination at the 12th Headies Award in Nigeria in the category of Best African Artiste and was up alongside Nasty C, Sarkodie from Ghana, Kenyan group Sauti Sol, and highly delectable and fashionable Tanzanian singer Vanessa Mdee. [55]

References

  1. ↑ "TRACE – Cassper Nyovest – Sports news, hip-hop, rnb, tropical and african music". Trace TV. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Family Tree | Record Label". familytreeworld.co.za. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  3. 1 2 3 "miCoverStory: Cassper Nyovest | miBlog". MiCampusmag. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest brings the beats". DStv. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Maftown Heights 2013". Maftown Heights. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Hip Hop Pantsula – Dumela". Discogs. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "South Africa: Press Release – Cassper Nyovest Brings the Beats". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Catch Cassper if you can!". LiveMag. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest 'Gusheshe' ft. Okmalumkoolkat Okayafrica". Okay Africa. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Maftown Heights to present Motswako artists :: Media Update". Media Update. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest ft. OkMalumKoolKat "Gusheshe" – YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Gusheshe interview | Vuzu". Vuzu. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Cassper gets love from Yvonne Chaka Chaka". The Juice. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "MTV Base Hottest African MCs - MTV Africa". www.mtvbase.com.
  15. ↑ "Who are the best rappers right now?". MTV Base. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "DOWNLOAD:Cassper Nyovest - Beef". NotJustOk. 29 November 2014.
  17. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest's Debut Album Tsholofelo Reaches Platinum! - Quench SA". Quench SA. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest speaks about new album". Connect. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Sunday World. "Cassper Nyovest's 'Refiloe' album artwork is here". sundayworld.co.za. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest Drops The First 'Refiloe' Single 'Mama I Made It'". Okayafrica. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  21. ↑ "New Track. Cassper Nyovest - 'Mama I Made It' - we-are-awesome". we-are-awesome. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "DOWNLOAD:Cassper Nyovest - Mama I Made It (#MIMI) –notjustOk". notjustOk. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  23. ↑ "Talib Kweli". Billboard. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  24. ↑ "Talib Kweli Surprise-Releases Free Album, 'F--k the Money'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  25. ↑ Kyle Zeeman (2015-11-28). "Cassper crowned the Hottest MC in Mzansi". Channel24. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  26. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest beats AKA to win MTV Base' SA's Hottest MC of 2015 [See Full List] - Nigerian Entertainment Today - Nigeria's Top Website for News, Gossip, Comedy, Videos, Blogs, Events, Weddings, Nollywood, Celebs, Scoop and Games". Thenet.ng. 2015-11-28. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  27. ↑ "The 10 Hottest Rappers In Africa 2015: #1 - Cassper Nyovest (South Africa)". Notjustok.com. 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  28. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest's Refiloe goes platinum". The Citizen. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
  29. ↑ "Cassper to drop new song after filling up Orlando Stadium". Enca.com. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  30. ↑ "5 memorable moments from Cassper's #FillUpOrlandoStadium concert". Times LIVE. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  31. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest crowned SA's Hottest MC of 2016 – YoMZansi – YMZ". Yomzansi.com. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  32. ↑ Amanda Maliba. "Cassper is SA's hottest MC, again". IOL.co.za. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  33. ↑ "The 10 Hottest Rappers In Africa - #TheList2016- Page 2 of 2 - Latest Naija Nigerian Music, Songs & Video". 31 December 2016.
  34. ↑ "South African Hip Hop Awards: Sahha Nomination 2016". Sahiphopawards.com. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  35. ↑ "2016 SA Hip-Hop Awards nominees: Cassper Nyovest tops the list". Music In Africa. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  36. ↑ "Cassper reigns supreme at SA Hip-Hop Awards".
  37. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest, Yemi Alade & More Win At Soundcity MVP Awards 2016, See Full List « tooXclusive". 30 December 2016.
  38. ↑ "BREAKING NEWS: Kwesta Wins "Best Collaboration" for 'NGUD' feat. Cassper Nyovest at the #SAMA23". 27 May 2017.
  39. ↑ "AFRIMMA 2017 WINNERS - AFRIMMA". afrimma.com.
  40. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest makes more history".
  41. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest's Album Goes Platinum With One Single". 24 May 2017.
  42. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest's Thuto Album Goes Platinum". hiphopza.com.
  43. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest reveals #FillUpFNBStadium date - Twitter goes crazy".
  44. ↑ Phoolo, R. M. "BREAKING!!! Golden circle 70% sold out!!!! They are gonna sell out fast!!! Get yours ASAP!!! Don't wait for last minute!!! #JustBuyATicketBroer We only have 15 days to go till we #FillUpFnbStadium . WILL YOU BE THERE???pic.twitter.com/dukXAyoGbP".
  45. ↑ "I'm serious about performing at #FillUpFNBStadium, says AKA".
  46. ↑ "OUCH! AKA told to 'just buy a ticket' for #FillUpFNBStadium - Sunday Tribune".
  47. ↑ ""I'm already doing it PRO BONO" Says Kwesta In Response To AKA's #FillUpFNB Request". 12 November 2017.
  48. ↑ "WATCH: CASSPER NYOVEST BAGS 3 SPONSORS FOR #FillUpFNBStadium".
  49. ↑ "Photos: Cassper Nyovest sold out 68,000 Tickets at #FillUpFNBStadium". ghkings.com. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  50. ↑ "Social Media Calls Cassper Nyovest A Fake! | OkMzansi". OkMzansi. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  51. ↑ Makhele, Tshepiso. "Cassper launches a new mobile phone".
  52. ↑ http://quenchsa.com/2017/04/07/cassper-nyovest-announces-new-deal-ciroc/
  53. ↑ LIVE, Sowetan. "Cassper and Boity make their love official". Sowetan LIVE. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  54. ↑ "Cassper cleans up at SA Hip Hop Awards!". hypemagazine.co.za. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  55. ↑ "Cassper Nyovest, nasty C Nominated For Best African Artiste @ Headies Awards 2018". mp3joli.info. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.


[1]

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.