SA rapper Cassper Nyovest features on new song by Talib Kweli

Nyovest featuring on the title track to Kweli’s new album, and being the only guest artist to do so, is a reminder to local hip-hop heads that he is the hottest rapper in the country at the moment (although his much-publicised rival AKA might disagree). The new collab has already been picked up by global music mags like Billboard, Stereogum and Rolling Stone. In July Nyovest was named Africa’s best hip-hop artist at the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in Durban, despite losing out to KO at the local South Africa Music Awards (SAMA). On Kweli’s track he doesn’t miss the opportunity to boast: “I’m Africa’s number one – that’s a bold statement – and I’m the most relevant…” Again, a few Nigerian hip-hop artists, and their millions of fans, might take issue with this - but rappers have seldom been prone to understatement.

The new release, a furious anti-capitalist rant, comes after Kweli took up an offer to guest on a remix of Nyovest’s breakthrough hit ‘Doc Shebeleza’ in late 2014. The track with Kweli will also no doubt help Nyovest in his ambitious quest to become the first local rapper to fill up Johannesburg’s 20 000-seater Ticketpro Dome on 31 October, in a concert billed Fill Up The Dome.

Talib Kweli first rose to fame in the duo Black Star alongside Mos Def. Since parting ways, Kweli’s former partner in crime, now known as Yasiin Bey, has also formed a strong bond to the continent, South Africa in particular - relocating to Cape Town for several months in 2014 and developing an ear for local sounds. Clearly great minds think alike!

The album F**k The Money can be downloaded or streamed for free from Kweli’s website. Watch the brand new video for the title track below.