Castle Lite Unlocks raises the bar for hip-hop’s very best
JOBURG – Castle Lite puts the culture on as two-day fest wraps up in style.
For two days, the TicketPro Dome was turned into the ultimate hip-hop experience –from live art installations, graffiti, pop-up stores, basketball, master classes and extra cold cyphers – Castle Lite Unlocks had it all. The two-day festival was the meeting point for street culture enthusiasts, influencers, budding musicians and students of the game as it celebrated the evolution of hip-hop from a musical genre to a global cultural movement.
This year’s edition saw international rap superstars, Meek Mill and Post Malone headline day one and day two of the festival, respectively. Day one did not only see Meek Mill deliver a fiery performance for the first time in South Africa but was a full-on hip-hop experience that saw SA’s new wave officially leave their mark on the scene through the Cold Table Convos as well as through their rap prowess displayed during the Sway Calloway-hosted ColdSwayCyphers.
“South Africa is the birthplace of hip-hop … we just took it and ran with it,” Sway Calloway said during the ColdSwayCyphers.
The star-studded line-up saw a balance between big SA acts, new-wave rappers and female rappers who stepped their game up to take their rightful place in the culture – Rouge, Moozlie, and Nadia Nakai delivered fiery performances and completely owned the stage as they dropped bars to a roaring crowd. On the other hand, with less than two years as a rapper, Boity has clearly made a mark in the scene following the release of two hit singles.
“I could’ve never imagined how quickly it would happen for my transition from presenter to a rapper who gets to share a stage with people as huge as Meek Mill and rappers who’ve been doing this for years. It’s such an honour and I’m blown away every time,” Boity said.
Paving the way for an even better and packed day two, Meek Mill took a moment out of his performance to thank South African fans for supporting him and his music through all the hardships in his career. Post Malone took to the stage on the second and final day of the fest and churned out his chart-topping hits, White Iverson, Wow, and Rockstar with a special guest appearance by Tyla Yaweh who kept the crowd hyped up.
“I can’t explain what it means to me, for everyone to come out and just hang out with me and have a good night. Everybody is fan, there’s no hate or negativity, it’s just positivity and I can’t explain to you how it feels for me to come out and sing my songs with you – it means the world to me, thank you so much,” Post Malone said as he closed off the festival in true rage.
Check out some pictures from this year’s #CastleLiteUnlocks below:
