Well, yours truly experienced that during the chilly Castle Lite’s Extra Cold Music concert, held recently at the SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Never mind the chilly weather, it was sold out…
From our proud 4-times Grammy Award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo-who for the first time did a sizzling collab with Mi Casa- to Nas collaborating with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, intertwined with the hip hop star and the producer of the event Timbaland.
LBM and Mi Casa did a splendid collab of ‘Homeless’ and Naz did his much-talked about magic with the 26-member group JPO, and re-engineered his Illmatic debut album that he first released 20 years ago. He made his hits from 1994 come alive with an incredible 6 piece Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra from USA.
Yes, there have been misconceptions about international artists giving us second grade performance. Well, how about this folks?
And it of course, it didn’t end there. Wiz Khalifa, Zakes Bantwini, Spoek Mathambo, DJ Clock with Beatenberg and Reason, completed this mouthwatering line-up.
Castle Lite’s General Manager Andrea Quaye commented: “Nas is one of the few artists who stays current 20 years on. And it’s for this reason and the fact that he very innovatively collaborated not only with his own Illmatic orchestra but also our very own Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra that allowed him to make history. We, here in SA have been honoured to see him with uber talented local musicians.”
Duncan Gibbon from the JPO told this website after the press brief that, the “collaboration with these international stars accentuates the combination we shall have during the show” says Gibbon, who during his 20 year-stint with Sony Music SA was responsible for some of Naz hit song(s).
According to buoyant Simphiwe Majola, from Capacity Relations-PR for Castle Lite, these kind of music engagements will be an annual feature on the South African music calendar.
“Watch the space, more is to come very soon”, he reassured.
The likes of Drake, Kanye West and Walee have been part of the Castle Lite innovative experience.
