Oskido to re-unite AKA, Cassper Nyovest

SOUTH Africa's hip hop rivals Cassper Nyovest and AKA will this year headline the annual Kalawa Jazmee Homecoming party in Bulawayo as part of Oskido's efforts to end their fued.

Oskido, the brains behind the Kalawa Jazmee end of year party, believes that the two artistes, who are always at loggerheads, stand to benefit more if they work together.

"@casspernyovest, @akaworldwide, It must be peace without victory; only a peace between equals can last," posted Oskido last week on his social networking Instagram page as he pleaded for the duo to stop fighting.

If all goes according to plan, the duo will share the Queens Sports Club stage on December 27. They will be joined by fellow South African acts, Oskido himself, Mafikizolo, Durban Nyts, Stiff, and DJs Tira, Fresh and Pepsi. This will be Shumaya hit-makers - Durban Nyts first time to perform in Zimbabwe, while other artistes are regular visitors.

Kalawa Jazmee manager, Scotch Mathenga, said this year's event, now in its fourth year, would be different from previous years which have been a strictly Kalawa kwaito and house affair.

"This year we're doing something different for the people there as we're moving away from the usual house and kwaito, introducing fans there to SA hip hop. We've decided to bring the best hip hop acts hence our selection of Cassper and AKA," Scotch said.

He said they were yet to engage local artistes who will curtain raise for the Mzansi acts.

"Our promoter in Zimbabwe, Vusumuzi is still yet to give us a list of shortlisted Zimbabwean artistes who will perform at the party. We'll take at least three."

On tickets to the show, Scotch said advance tickets would be made available once they have fully cleared the artistes with local arts body National Arts Council of Zimbabwe as well as the Zimbabwe Immigration Department. However, ticket prices are yet to be confirmed though last year's show was pegged at $10 for standard access while VIP tickets cost $50.

The commotion at last year's event left many stuck outside the Queens Sports Club grounds, something which promoters have promised to rectify.

"Last year we never sold advance tickets hence the commotion as people jostled to buy them at the gates. This year, we'll make sure that we sell tickets well in advance. There'll also be a VIP gate for VIP ticket holders so that they gain easy access."

Now in its fourth year, the homecoming party will kick off in South Africa on Christmas Eve followed by Botswana on December 26. The Zimbabwe leg will follow a day after.

As a result of the event's success in Zimbabwe, promoters in Harare are crying for the homecoming party which they say sees party-loving revellers leave the capital city for Bulawayo to party in style. Scotch said they would love to take the event to more cities but could not do so as it is costly.

"Taking the party to other cities is quite costly, but we're planning to do so next year so as to give others a taste of Kalawa," Scotch said.

Last year, about 7,000 people are reported to have attended the party in Bulawayo which saw Oskido, Berita, Bricks, Mdu Masilela, Uhuru, Jah Seed, Zola, Alaska, Buffalo Souljah and Vanessa Sibanda perform. Other artistes who have performed over the years include Professor, Character, DJ Zinhle, Winnie Khumalo, the late Brown Dash, Busiswa, Madluputhu, Nokwazi and Candy.