Kast gets 20 000 fans to Botswana stadium

Kast is the first artist in Botswana to get 20 000 people to the stadium. He follows Nyovest’s success after the South African rapper filled up the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg in 2015 and a year later held a concert at Orlando Stadium, also in Johannesburg, with an attendance of more than 30 000.

In 2015, The Botswana Gazette wrote that Kast had been inspired by Nyovest’s success and wanted to replicate the tour de force in his own country. Early this year the two rappers began a twar (Twitter war) that was seen by many as an altercation over the ‘fill up a stadium’ idea.

After a gig in Botswana in late 2016, Nyovest tweeted: “I still can’t get over BOTSWANA this past weekend. I’m definitely doing a stadium next year in your country!!! Thank you for the love!!”

But the rapper from Botswana has come out on top by being the first to accomplish the feat in his own country. Kast, who took an emotional and historic 1 000km walk from Maun to Gaborone ahead of the 6 May concert, expressed his excitement and thanked his fans on Facebook.

“Thank you very much Batlatsi! We did it! Thank you for the support, for coming out in such huge numbers, for proving your confidence in local art, and above all for the great conduct,” he wrote. “Le kamoso. We have proven that Botswana music is a force to be reckoned with. Let's continue building and supporting Botswana Music.”

Local media reported that despite evening winter temperatures, fans came out in their numbers. Kast met a number challenges when some artists, including singer Ditiro and rapper ATI, made last-minute withdrawals, some of them saying that contractual obligations had not been met. South African rapper Khuli Chana made a surprise appearance at Kast’s concert when he was invited to join Vee on stage, which made him the only foreign act on a bill that included more than 40 artists.

Kast, who last made an impact with the song ‘Sejabana’ a decade ago, had been widely dismissed as an increasingly fading and irrelevant musician in Botswana. It seems the rapper has proved his detractors wrong. Last year, Kast was forced to cancel his first attempt to fill up the National Stadium after he encountered a number of organisational problems.