A Sho’t Left to Cape Town with Cassper Nyovest

South African Tourism invited me to a #ShotLeftwithCassperNyovest over a fantastic stay at The Taj Cape Town. A hotel I’ve always silently wished to sleep at everytime I walked past. I became even more excited when I learnt that in addition to Cassper Nyovest joining us on the trip, the itinerary also included some of my all-time favorite activities: bike & boat rides! I even hopped on to the sidecar for a drive around Camps Bay — accompanied by the coolest dog in Cape Town, Brody, whom I heard made his debut on primetime news two weeks ago.

The sidecar ride with Cape Sidecar Adventures was just before dinner at Paranga. On that same day, we had breakfast at the hotel and drove to Khaltsa Cycles where we started cycling, making our first stop at Siki’s Koffee Kafe. By the way, upon arrival, it turned out that Khuli Chana was joining us on the trip as well as part of Cassper’s crew.

After cycling to Siki’s, we made our way to 4Roomed Ekasi Culture for lunch, owned by the cheerful and talented Abigail Mbali whom I had met when she won a Lilizela award a few years ago. We had wine and danced the evening that she won, and I swore to one day visit her establishment that she spoke so passionately about. One day came, and I arrived with Cassper Nyovest, Khuli Chana, the Sho’t Left gang and other media.

“What drove me to pursue food was that I realised there was a lot to be done in fusing food and tourism in our townships,” Abigail told me for a special Mail & Guardian report when she won.

We arrived at her house where she challenged Chana and Nyovest to a cookout in her food truck before we went to go eat at her restaurant. Khuli made Abigail’s pap, cooked with butternut. He was quite dedicated to the process, ‘he even checks up on his pots to see how they’re doing,’ Abigail added. ‘It’s because he’s married,’ quipped Cassper, who had the task of blending the puree and kind of grilling the vegetables. 

The two stars both picked herbs growing in a vintage bathtub at Abigail’s back garden, before plating their final meals. They wore Abigail’s aprons from the time she was on MasterChef South Africa. That was when she came up with the idea for her restaurant, a space that would also serve as a lab to experiment and recreate kasi food. For Abigail, kasi food has played a significant role in her own childhood and upbringing. 

The pap with butternut was a game changer for me. I didn’t ever think to cook pap like that, but apparently it’s a popular style of cooking it, especially in the Eastern Cape. ‘It’s good ol’ pap ‘n vleis, but elevated, with some flavour and presentation,’ she adds excitedly, as if to say here is a cuisine we can fashion a heritage out of and take to the world stage. As if she were telling us that pap and vleis can be to our heritage what amapiano is to our dance floors. 

For her bisto, she grills the tomato, onion and herbs before blending the gravy into a silk-soupy texture. She tosses her grilled lamb in shavings of parsley and bilton and serves the dish with a side of grilled vegetables to go with the butternut pap. The starter salad is served in the cutest salad bowls I’ve seen, along with a dollop of amasi cheese. Her cake sponge is tender and is topped with the most delicious icing and fresh fruit.

Abigail’s was the perfect meal to have after a day of cycling around with Khaltsha Cycles, a young and black-woned company that is on a mission to equip townships with bicycles. 

At khaltsa Cycles, Khayelitsha residents can come to borrow bikes, or hang around the garden and even grab some produce in he garden for free. In addition to selling bikes, they run three lovely initiatives that involve teaching first-time riders how to ride bicycles, they have a program for students and learners to use bicycles as a means of transport to commute from home to school, as well as monthly rides to promote safe cycling in communities. During the lockdown last year, they set out to raise funds for 40 bicycles that would go towards helping essential workers, and instead they raised 500 bicycles that they’re still distributing.

‘We want to move away from the shame around the idea of a bicycle being a poor man’s transport, because we believe bikes can change the world,’ said Sindile Mavundla, co-owner and Managing Director at Khaltsha Cycles. They’re currently working on turning the one container on the property into a coffee shop, and ‘we want it to be women-run,’ added Mavundla.

We left Abigail’s to rush for our ride on the catamaran from the V&A Waterfront. It’s a wonderful way of taking in views of the expansive views of the Cape stretching from from Mouilie Point, Green Point, Camps Bay all the way through the 12 apostles, as well as Blouberg, Table Bay and Robben Island. Plus when Khuli Chana and Cassper Nyovest are around such scenic moments, one tends to feel like they were living in a music video.

Khuli was the quietest and almost the shyest person in the room, and Cassper was in jubilant spirits and made an effort to interact with almost everyone in the room, though I heard from a birdy out at sea, ‘not so much when he’s hungry’. I thought both of them approachable, and relatable.

The night before, The Radisson Hotel had hosted us and the two winners who won a chance to join in on the trip, for cocktails, and even then, Nyovest was in jovial moods.

Before going out to cycle in the morning, we had had breakfast in the gallery at the Taj. There, Nyovest had been candid about some misconceptions about artists and drugs in the industry, the distinction between our local sound versus the rest of the world, and the unique sound that Mzansi has to offer that to the world.

“I remember going out to Braam with some friends when I was still new and trying to make it. Before we went inside the bar, they said it was time to take lines. I didn’t take any, infact, I was quite surprised at how things worked in the big city when I got here. Not so long ago, I bumped into one of the people I was with that night, and she said to me that my decision to not take a line that night, is exactly why I am the super star I am today,” he had shared as we sipped coffee and ate breakfast.

He revealed that his next album would be an amapiano sound, which he strongly believes can be South Africa’s gift to the rest of the world. He’s not off the mark there. Usher Raymond was recently seen jamming to Sponono which features African heavyweight artists such as Wizkid, Burna Boy, Madumane and Cassper Nyovest himself — in a Versace ad.

What was also inspiring to know, was that after a long day of fun activities and fun rides, fellow guests whose rooms were near Cassper’s, said they heard them making music until much later in the ams. He’s a boy at work who takes pride in his work. I can’t wait to see what he has to offer us next. He’s already released Ama Number Ayi 10 which has the potential of lighting up our dance floors.

Chana has also recently released Buyile, an amapiano track tilting his return to the musical scene after a new partnership between his record label MYTHRONE Records and Universal Music Group South Africa.

It was exciting for me to witness the friendship between the South African veteran rapper and former Morafe member, Khuli Chana and Cassper Nyovest, who admits to having drawn inspiration from Chana’s own musical journey as well as Jaba Man, Hip Hop Pantsula. I am preparing my dancing shoes for their new upcoming music and crossing my fingers for a collaboration between the two.

I also have to add (because I’ve received this question a lot) that they are both just as handsome in person as you imagine them to be, cushioned with a dash of boy next door vibes. And methinks Cassper is in the running for being the 8th wonder of the world. The All Africa Music Award nominee and proud Samsung ambassador is not a catfish shem, and his funny quirks and random remarks throughout the trip made him all the more a darling in my eyes — or it could’ve just been that flashy smile.

Strangely enough though, both Chana and Nyovest don’t dress up to match their reputations, they seem to prefer the everyday chilling look. My theory for this, is that Cassper low-key knows he’s the hottest guy in the room and doesn’t dress up for it, so he’s giving us chance to breath, save for the shorts. While Khuli doesn’t like drawing attention to himself, like a brotha with nothing to prove, and I like that about him. While some of us remain unrelenting with serving lewks. 

Chilling on a boat with Khuli & Cassper, B! The thought had me wishing to hop on to a beat with Khuli and Cassper, B! Or twerking out at seea to beats by Khuli & Cassper, B! If ‘Mama I made it’ was a person we would have to see them on a boat out at sea with Khuli & Cassper, B!  If life was indeed a music video, it would certainly look something like a #ShotleftWithCassperNyovest.

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