Tsholofelo

Tsholofelo
Studio album by Cassper Nyovest
Released	July 18, 2014 (2014-07-18)
Recorded	2011–2014
Genre	Hip hop Motswako House Kwaito Afro pop
Length	77:46
Label	Family Tree Kalawa Jazmee Records Universal Music South Africa
Producer	Refiloe Maele Phoolo (also exec.) Ganja Beatz Blackstorm Masterkraft Uhuru Riky Rick BeatJunky DJ Buckz Anatii Brian Essence Aux Cable Sean Craig Beats Brian Soko
Singles from Tsholofelo
"Gusheshe" Released: April 19, 2013 (2013-04-19) "Doc Shebeleza" Released: January 17, 2014 (2014-01-17) "Phumakim" Released: July 3, 2014 (2014-07-03)

Tsholofelo is the debut studio album by South African hip hop recording artist Cassper Nyovest, released digitally via iTunes on July 18, 2014 and physically released on July 31, 2014 under a distribution deal with Kalawa Jazmee Records and Universal Music.^[1][2][3]

Tsholofelo, which means "hope", is named after Nyovest's younger sister.^[4] Work on the album began as early as 2011 and continued on through 2014. It features guest appearances from HHP, Okmalumkoolkat, Bucie, iFani, Riky Rick, Bass Mdlongwa, Ntukza, Kyle Deutschmann, Tshego, Anatii, Skales (credited as Young Skalez), KayGizm from Morafe and Prokid. Prior to its release, the album was supported by three free singles, "Gusheshe", "Doc Shebeleza" and "Phumakim", all of which achieved wide mainstream appeal.^[5][6][7]

For his debut effort, Nyovest enlisted a number of producers including Nigerian composer Masterkraft (whose production credits include Wizkid and Sarkodie), Uhuru (which produced the award winning "Khona" by Mafikizolo), and The Order's Brian Soko (who co-produced Beyoncé's critically acclaimed "Drunk in Love").

Background, recording and release

The idea to name the album after Nyovest's younger sister came after she gave Cassper her allowance for him to relocate to Johannesburg with: "At the time, I had just quit everything and I didn’t have the money to travel and come to Jo'burg to hustle. Ever since that day it has always been about making sure that her sacrifice was not in vain."^[8]

In September 2013, Nyovest mentioned that the album was 90% percent done: "I’ve recorded a lot of music, now I just need to conceptualize the story of the album. There’s so much music because I’m currently sitting on like 300 songs, so I don’t even know what to do."^[8][9]

He also mentioned that guest appearances on the album would include Okmalumkoolkat, Masterkraft, Kaygizm, Shag, PRO, Kyle Deutschmann, Skales, Riky Rick, iFani and HHP.^[9]

In March 2014 a tracklist of the album was leaked online.^[10] Nyovest would later state that the album contained 19 songs and not 16 as shown by the tracklist. On 10 June 2014, he revealed the cover for the album, along with the release date.^[2]

On Mandela Day, Nyovest released the album exclusively on iTunes without prior announcement. Within an hour of its debut, Tsholofelo peaked at number 1 on the iTunes South Africa albums chart.^[11]

Promotion

In support of the album, many promotional singles were released including "#BMK" and "Wahala" featuring Young Slugz. Both songs were produced by Ganja Beatz and accompanied by music videos.^[12][13] On Valentine's day, 2013, Nyovest released a track titled "Girlfriend" as part of the "TruSSt Thursdays" series. The song features and is produced by Riky Rick.^[14]

Nyovest also did a string of radio interviews and performances to promote the album. On 2 July 2014, he performed an unreleased song on Metro FM titled, "Alive" which features Durban based vocalist and Idols SA season 10 top 11 finalist Kyle Deutschmann.

Album artwork

The artwork was revealed via Twitter and Facebook by Nyovest on June 10, 2014.^[15][16] The cover, which was designed by Freshboi, is an illustration of Nyovest's portrait.^[17]

Singles

In April 2013, the album's lead single "Gusheshe" was released. It features Dirty Paraffin's Okmalumkoolkat.^[18]

The second single, "Doc Shebeleza", produced by Sean Craig Beats, was released on January 17, 2014 for free digital downloads. Its music video was directed by Nicky Campos and Nyovest. It has a total runtime of 4 minutes and 2 seconds.^[19] The song debuted at number 4 on South Africa's official music chart.^[20]

"Phumakim", the album's third single, was released on July 3, 2014 with production from Zimbabwean producer, Brian Soko, who co-produced Drunk in Love by Beyoncé. "Phumakim" which is in Zulu, loosely translates to "Leave me alone". In the song, Nyovest addresses the criticism that celebrities receive on social media and makes a reference to his highly publicized feud with rapper AKA. He also raps about how he only dates women as famous as him.

The beat for Phumakim was originally meant for American rapper, Future, who declined it.^[21] "Phumakim" garnered 15,000 downloads within its first minute of release and trended on Twitter in South Africa and in the UK.

"Tsibip", the album's promotional single, was released in August 2014. Two videos were shot for the song to showcase Cassper Nyovest's different alter-egos, "Cassper" and "Nyovest". Both of the videos were shot by Studio Space Pictures. The first video premiered on MTV Base's "Spanking New Premiere". It is a one-take video which shows Nyovest bare chest wearing a wrist watch, a ring and a gold chain around his neck. For the duration of the video, Nyovest tries on and exchanges different caps up until he puts on the cap he is depicted wearing on the Tsholofelo album cover.

The second video premiered on Channel O's "Turn Up" on the same day.

Commercial performance

In April 2015, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa, selling over 40,000 copies.^[22][23] To celebrate this, Nyovest released a platinum edition of the album which features new material and old songs which never made the final tracklist of Tsholofelo.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
PLATFORM	82/100[24]
LiveMag	[25]

Upon its release, Tsholofelo received generally positive reviews. Tsepang Tlhapane of Live Mag felt the pitfall of the album was its lengthiness and its production. However, he praised the album's intro, calling it "heartfelt" and commended its drum arrangement. He also praised "Tsibip" for its witty punchlines and "Skeptedaba" for embodying elements of 90s Kwaito music.

Andy Petersen of PLATFORM gave the album a score of 82/100 adding: "This is an artist in motion - one unafraid to exhibit his growth. Tsholofelo is certainly not a perfect album, but it is a very good one. And it hints strongly of someone who is only going to get better."

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
1.	"I Hope You Bought It"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo		4:54
2.	"Style Se Legit"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo	BeatJunky	4:04
3.	"Cold Hearted" (featuring Tshego)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Khumoetsile Tshegofatso Koobetseng	Brian Essence Cassper Nyovest[a]	5:30
4.	"Tsholofelo (Skit)"			0:31
5.	"Welcome to My Life" (featuring Ntukza)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Bantu Hanabe		4:29
6.	"Alive" (featuring Kyle Deutschmann)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Kyle Deutschmann	Aux Cable	5:04
7.	"Phumakim"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo	Brian Soko	3:42
8.	"Skeptedaba"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo		3:50
9.	"Ghetto Olympics" (featuring iFani & Uhuru)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Mzondeleli Boltina Themba Sekowe Sihle Dlalisa Xelimpilo Simelane Nqobile Mahlangu	Uhuru DJ Buckz[a]	4:29
10.	"Tsibip"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo	Ganja Beatz	3:46
11.	"Doc Shebeleza"	Refiloe Maele Phoolo	Sean Craig Beats	3:51
12.	"Shake'a Letheka" (featuring HHP & Pro)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Jabulani Tsambo Linda Mkhize	Ganja Beatz	3:37
13.	"Gusheshe" (featuring Okmalumkoolkat)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Smiso Zwane	Cassper Nyovest Ganja Beatz[b]	4:23
14.	"Bad One" (featuring Anatii)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Anathi Mnyango	Anatii	3:21
15.	"Girlfriend" (featuring Riky Rick)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Rikhado Makhado	Riky Rick	3:24
16.	"She Loves Me" (featuring Bucie)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Busisiwe Nolubabalo Nqwiliso	Ganja Beatz	5:28
17.	"Love Is Fucking Blind" (featuring KayGizm)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Kgaugelo Choabi	Ganja Beatz	4:44
18.	"Travel the World" (featuring Uhuru & Bass)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Bass Q Mdlongwa Themba Sekowe Sihle Dlalisa Xelimpilo Simelane Nqobile Mahlangu	Uhuru	4:00
19.	"Lerato" (featuring Skales & Masterkraft)	Refiloe Maele Phoolo Raoul John Njeng-Njeng Sunday Nweke	Masterkraft	4:29
Total length:				77:46

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer

• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits for Tsholofelo adapted from AllMusic.^[26]

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
South Africa	July 18, 2014	digital download	Family Tree, Kalawa Jazmee Records, Universal Music South Africa
	July 31, 2014	CD

References