''Tsholofelo'' is the debut studio album by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n hip hop recording artist

Cassper Nyovest Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and amateur boxer. Born and raised in Mahikeng, North West, he is regarded as one of t ...

, released digitally via iTunes on 18 July 2014 and physically released on 31 July 2014 under a

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owned by Lindsay Jerome Arends, a former & founding member of the R&B group Ashaan. ''Tsholofelo'', which means "hope", is named after his younger sister. Work on the album began as early as 2011 and continued on through 2014. It features guest appearances from HHP, Okmalumkoolkat,

Bucie Busisiwe Nolubabalo Nqwiliso (born March 10, 1987) is a South African R&B and house singer. Her 2014 single titled "Easy to Love" peaked at number 9 on EMA. Early life and Career Early life She was born in Kimberley and grew up in Khuma w ...

iFANi Mzayifani Mzondeleli Boltina, better known as iFani, (born 20 November 1985) is a South African Hip-Hop/Rap artist, MC and television presenter. Born in Mthatha and raised in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, His first single was ‘Hola Hater’ ...

Riky Rick Rikhado Muziwendlovu Makhado (20 July 1987 23 February 2022), known professionally as Riky Rick, was a South African rapper, singer and producer. He was also the founder and owner of record label Cotton Club Records and a member of Boyz N Buck ...

, Bass Mdlongwa, Ntukza, Kyle Deutschmann, Tshego,

Anatii Anathi Bhongo Mnyango (born 8 January 1993), known professionally as Anatii, is a South African rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer & music video director. Career Anatii began his professional musical journey at the age of 14 when h ...

Skales Raoul John Njeng-Njeng (born 1 April 1991), better known by his stage name Skales (an acronym for Seek Knowledge Acquire Large Entrepreneurial Skills), is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2000, he started writing rap songs in Kadun ...

(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.

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 Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

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." 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." He also mentioned that guest appearances on the album would include Okmalumkoolkat, Masterkraft, Kaygizm, Shag, PRO, Kyle Deutschmann,

, Riky Rick, iFani and HHP. In March 2014 a track list of the album was leaked online. Nyovest would later state that the album contained 19 songs and not 16 as shown by the track list. On 10 June 2014, he revealed the cover for the album, along with the release date. On

Mandela Day Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the ...

, 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.

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. On

Valentine's day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

, 2013, Nyovest released a track titled "Girlfriend" as part of the "TruSSt Thursdays" series. The song features and is produced by Riky Rick. 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 Metro FM is a national radio station in South Africa owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts on FM Stereo as well as the DStv Bouquet Channel 801. Telephone : History The station started broadcasting in O ...

titled, "Alive" which features

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

based vocalist and Idols SA season 10 top 11 finalist Kyle Deutschmann.

Album artwork

The artwork was revealed via

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and

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by Nyovest on 10 June 2014. The cover, which was designed by Freshboi, is an illustration of Nyovest's portrait.

Singles

In April 2013, the album's lead single " Gusheshe" was released. It features Dirty Paraffin's Okmalumkoolkat. The second single, " Doc Shebeleza", produced by Sean Craig Beats, was released on 17 January 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. The song debuted at number 4 on South Africa's official music chart. "Phumakim", the album's third single, was released on 3 July 2014 with production from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

an producer, Brian Soko, who co-produced

Drunk in Love "Drunk in Love" is a song by American singer Beyoncé featuring American rapper Jay-Z. The duo composed the song along with credited production and writing by Future, Detail, Andre Eric Proctor, Rasool Diaz, Brian Soko, Timbaland, J-Roc and ...

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. "Phumakim" garnered 15,000 downloads within its first minute of release and trended on

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 MTV Base was a British pay television music channel from Paramount Networks UK & Australia that focused primarily on hip hop, R&B, grime, garage, reggae, funk, soul and dance music. It was launched as part of MTV's digital boutique of music ch ...

'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 Channel O is a South African-based music channel which first started transmission in 1997. Its main concept is African music in Africa and the diaspora. Channel O can be accessed via DStv, a satellite pay TV service for pan-African households. T ...

's "Turn Up" on the same day.

Commercial performance

In April 2015, the album was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry of South Africa Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) is a trade association representing the interests of major and independent record labels of South Africa. Located in Randburg, RISA is responsible for running the annual South African Music Awards (SAMA ...

, selling over 40,000 copies. To celebrate this, Nyovest released a platinum edition of the album which features new material and old songs which never made the final track list of ''Tsholofelo''.

Critical reception

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 Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

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

Standard edition

Tsholofelo (platinum edition) track list

:Notes :* signifies a co- producer :* signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits for ''Tsholofelo'' adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. *

– primary artist *Base – primary artist *Mzondeleli Boltina – composer *Bucie – primary artist *Kgaugelo Goodchild Choabi – composer *Kyle Deutschmann – composer, primary artist *Aashish Gangaram – composer *HHP – primary artist *iFani – primary artist *Kaygizm – primary artist *Khumoetsile Tshegofatso Koobetseng – composer *Rikhado Makhado – composer *MasterKraft – composer, primary artist *Bass Q Mdlongwa – composer *Linda Mkhize – composer *Anathi Mnyango – composer *Busisiwe Nolubabalo – composer *Ntukza – primary artist *Cassper Nyovest – primary artist *Okmalumkoolkat – primary artist *R.M. Phoolo – composer *Tsholofelo Phoolo – composer *Pro – primary artist *Obakeng Ramahali – composer *Riky Rick – primary artist *Jabulani Tsambo – composer *Tshego – primary artist *Uhuru – primary artist *Young Skalez – composer, primary artist *Smiso Zwane – composer *Brian Essence - composer

Certification and sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums Cassper Nyovest albums Albums produced by Masterkraft (producer) Albums produced by Uhuru (record producer) Family Tree Records albums Kalawa Jazmee Records albums