Born: December 16, 1990
Birthplace: Montshioa, Mafikeng, Cape Province, South Africa
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Refiloe Maele Phoolo, aka Cassper Nyovest, is a South African recording artist and producer. His debut album, Tsholofelo, was released on 18 July 2014. He is signed to his independent label and media company, Family Tree.
2004, he joined Childhood Gangsta (CHG), which later disbanded. He then joined an eight-member group, Slow Motion, which included the production team Ganja Beatz.
Nyovest dropped out of high school in 2006, left home, and moved to Johannesburg. The following year, still at 16, he was signed by the Motswako label " Impact Sounds ". After two years without a release, he left to start a brand of his own to no avail – he moved back home.
Months later, Motswako rapper HHP spotted Nyovest at a performance. HHP was impressed and featured him on his " Wamo Tseba Mtho " track from his seventh studio album, Dumela. Nyovest embarked on international tours with HHP, where he gained exposure as an artist. He has also shared stages with international acts such as Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Talib Kweli, Hugh Masekela and Wiz Khalifa. In 2014, Nyovest was involved in a highly publicized "beef" with fellow South African artists, AKA; this led to both artists recording diss tracks about each other.
In 2013, he released "Gusheshe" as the first official single from his debut album, Tsholofelo. The single was well-received and playlisted across various radio stations in South Africa. It was accompanied by a music video that premiered on Vuzu's V-Entertainment.
After "Gusheshe," he released his second single titled "Doc Shebeleza," which saw him succeed significantly. 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.
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 MTV Base. Nyovest was ranked number 2 on MTV Base's "SA's Hottest MC" list, with KO 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. It quickly sparked controversy, after which the rapper apologized to K.O. for a line on the song.
After the release of Tsholofelo, Nyovest hinted that he was in the 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 on 17 April 2015, with only 10,000 copies printed. Nyovest announced that he planned to headline a concert on 31 October 2015 at the Ticket Pro Dome billed as "Fill Up the Dome" and release his second album on the same day. He revealed the title of the album as Refiloe on 13 July 2015. He mentioned that he wanted to fill the dome – currently accommodating up to 20,000 people – to its total 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.
On 14 August 2015, the album's first single, "Mama I Made It (#MIMI)," was released for purchase on iTunes and as a free download for 24 hours only. Shortly after its release, it peaked at 1 on the iTunes South Africa chart across all genres. It was also playlisted across various radio stations in South Africa, most notably on DJ Fresh's "Fresh at 5" show on 5FM. 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 on the "Doc Shebeleza" remix, released his lead single off his album entitled "Fuck The Money," which features a guest verse by Nyovest.
On 25 October 2015, Nyovest announced on his official Twitter account that Fill Up The Dome concert tickets were sold out. Each purchased access to the show 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. Nyovest was also listed as the hottest MC in Africa by popular Nigeria music streaming blog industry experts, notjustok.com
As of 13 January 2016, Refiloe was certified Platinum for shipments of over 40,000 copies domestically. 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 announced his plans to fill up FNB stadium, an 80,000-capacity stadium, in December 2017.
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, including veteran rappers and South African influencers. The list was based on these six pointers: impact, style, lyrics, sales, buzz, and other intangibles.
On 31 December 2016, Nyovest was again named the Hottest Rapper in Africa. This list was compiled by a team of industry experts from one of Africa's leading and most reputable music downloads and online publishers.
Nyovest received 9 nominations at the 2016 SA Hip Hop Awards.
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. Nyovest was also named the SOUND CITY MVP for Best Hip Hop Artist in Africa.
Nyovest got a SAMA award for best collaboration for 'NGUD,' a song by Kwesta featuring Nyovest. On 10 October 2017, he was awarded Best Male Southern African by the African Musiq Magazine Awards. Nyovest Thuto's Album went Gold on the day of release, and within a few weeks, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA).
Nyovest Announced plans to fill up the 75,000-capacity FNB Stadium in August. On 17 November 2017, he announced that the tickets for the Golden Circle were 70% sold, and some notable performers for this concert were also revealed.
With Nyovest initially finding it difficult to fund the show all by himself due to a 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, contributing to the show's hype. However, Nyovest's management team rejected AKA's offer. Kwesta threw his weight behind the concert, advised other hip-hop acts to support this historic move, and told the fans that he was performing for free at the show. Fans took this to be a slight dig at AKA, a good friend of Kwesta.