Ten things we learnt from Cassper’s Breakfast Club interview

Local rapper Cassper Nyovest appeared on the Power 105.1 FM’s notorious  show, The Breakfast Club, hosted by DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlamagne The God. Nyovest is in the States for a couple of shows in New York, and from this press stop, we got a few insights into how Americans see African artists, as well as some insight into Cassper’s future plans.

1.) AGMobile made R500 million from their collaboration with Cassper.

When asked by Charlamagne where his phone was, Cassper resonded: “I don’t use it anymore because the company got liquidated or something. Apparently, the demand was higher than they could supply, so they had to close.”

2.) Cassper admits he tries to be American in his sound – even if it’s to “appeal to the crowd”.

Charlamagne Tha God: “On ‘Thuto’, on the record ‘Confused’, you say radio claims to play local, and all you hear is Drake vocals. You sound like an American.”

Cassper Nyovest: “Yeah.”

Charlamagne Tha God: (Laughs.)

Cassper Nyovest: “There was this rule that was put in place by radio that they will play 90% local music, and after we heard about it, nothing ever changed. And then what happens is South Africans are forced to make America sounding music to appeal to the crowd because that’s all the crowd is listening to, you know what I’m saying?”

3.) He doesn’t want to mention AKA in interviews, but says he’s “Mufasa” now.

Angela Yee asked about his “beef”, and Cassper was adamant he won’t mention his rivals. Throughout the interview, he did make reference to his collaborators and ex-girlfriends, but steered clear from his competition. He responded: “Yeah. I don’t like talking about it. My whole thing is, everybody needs to work for them to get to a certain point. I can’t be here talking about somebody who’s never worked to get here.”

4.) He wouldn’t sign to a US label for a distribution deal.

He wouldn’t sign to an African label, but he would sign to Jay Z’s Roc Nation. “I wanna sign to Jay Z.”

5.) He cheated on Boity, and she found out on Thuto.

He never told her about it – to the disgust of the hosts – and on the song, ‘I Wasn’t Ready For You’, the actress found out he was unfaithful. “She was like, ‘Yo, I never knew you was cheating on me.’ And I was like, ‘Yo, I had to exaggerate a bit just so that the song …”

6.) Charlamagne thinks Cassper is very self-aware, and Cassper agrees.

CN: “I’m very honest with music because I feel like it’s my journal, you know. I have to document every part of my life honestly cause if I don’t, then I’m going to get lost in myself.”

7.) Scoop Makhathini let Cassper know he sucked at one point.

CN: “If there’s one dude who is going to check you even on TV or radio, it’s probably going to be Scoop.”

8.) He looks after his family.

“All my family has, like, a job through, you know, companies. My sister runs my shop … instead of just giving them money, I have to figure out a way to give them an opportunity to work.”

9.) He admits he needs a lot of practice.

He laid out how his collaborations with Talib Kweli, Black Thought, and DJ Drama happened. His collaboration with Black Thought, however, taught him he still has a long way to go.

10.) He’s aiming bigger than his #FillUpTheDome

He’s doing his #FillUpFNBStadium show at the FNB stadium for 75 000 people on the 2^nd of December. The lineup, however, is not confirmed. “Last year we did a lot of 3D dimensions with the stage, and this year I wanted to take it back home to Africa so it’s going to be very African-themed … Jungle … It’s going to be crazy.”

Watch the full interview here: