Musician and Poet Ntsiki Mazwai Musician and Poet Ntsiki Mazwai
He made a fool of himself. He stole her song. He lost a fan.
While others were overjoyed at the fact that Cassper Nyovest had made an appearence on Sway, Ntsiki Mazwai was felt differently.
The rapper was the first South African artist to have an interview with the American show, Sway in the Morning. But the interview left a bad taste in Mazwai’s mouth. So she took it upon herself to put Cassper in his place, and sound off a warning to those following in his footsteps. Even AKA took some collateral damage.
Mazwai started by highlighting her role as a firm Cassper supporter before the rapper made it big, claiming that she was “tweeting constantly about him” and asking radio stations why they were not giving him airplay.
”So bottom line is…..Ntsiki is a fan,” she said. So far, so good... And then, she dropped a bombshell.
“Despite the fact that he stole my song urongo without so much as acknowledging it, yes, you can google it Cassper uRongo…”
But the jarring accusation was put aside to allow for more venting as Mazwai switched gears, saying that the rapper’s work ethic and history-making #FillUpTheDome achievement filled her with pride - “until that Sway interview”.
“I have never been so embarrassed to be South African in my life,” she said.
“That interview single handedly showed me that artists should not only focus on the craft…but artists should also be readers and be more conscious of the position they occupy. In an interview to MILLIONS of listeners world wide Cassper proceeded to grovel for Americans.”
Mazwai observed that the interviewer was “trying to bring consciousness to the conversation but Cassper just could not keep up.”
She lamented that the topic of hip hop’s African roots “flew over” Cassper’s head. The most shocking and embarrassing moment for Mazwai was when the rapper failed to make a meaningful contribution to the conversation, as he poceeded to gush about America and South Africans’ alleged desire to “be American”.
“No Cassper, that is just you and your self worth issues, the majority of south Africans are VERY African. And only some of the kids who grew up fluent in English aspire to be American, and let's be honest now, that is quite a below average aspiration. Next time please speak for yourself and don't make us ALL look ignorant,” said Mazwai.
“I suggest now that South African artists know that there is a global interest in us, can we start teaching ourselves about ourselves and our history. We cannot occupy global positions and gush at America. That is a disgrace. “
She added: “I wonder if Cassper is aware that NO American has EVER filled up the dome, just like I wish that AKA knew that the Lyons are a cast of ACTORS, he is the real rapper. Would AKA think it is an achievement if he was on a set with the Generations cast?? So manje why does he think the Lyons are special? “
And, as for the groupies ....
“I won't go into how Cassper wanted American groupies over south African ones, that made him look rather lame I must admit. Then he proceeded to say that the experience he can give to an American groupie is that in SA he is a superstar so she will get mobbed. Really Cassper?? Really? The level of depth was sadly a missing element in that interview.
"Essentially, in that whole 45mins Cassper said nothing powerful, nothing to make South Africa look good. He basically made us seem like we are a nation of Americas groupies. The interview left me feeling embarrassed about the youth. Do the youth really wanna be American? If so…..WOW!”
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