In yet another tragedy for the South African music scene, rapper Costa Titch has died. The musician, whose full name is Costa Tsobanoglou, had reportedly collapsed while performing at the Ultra music festival on Saturday, 12 March 2023.
Costa, who is also a dancer, was born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga in 1995 and is known for several hits, including Nkalakatha and Activate.
TRIBUTES FOR COSTA TITCH
The news of Costa Titch’s death was confirmed by entertainment commentator Phil Mphela on Twitter just before midnight and was followed by a string of sombre reactions from industry colleagues.
Fellow musician Junior Da Rocka and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema are among those to seemingly reference the rapper’s passing.
https://twitter.com/nwanyebinladen/status/1634691259129364481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1634691259129364481%7Ctwgr%5E2b6c21c5b57965da0f146b8cace5193dc303a829%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbnonews.com%2Findex.php%2F2023%2F03%2Fsouth-african-rapper-costa-titch-reportedly-dies-on-stage-at-music-festival%2F
RIP: Costa Titch
Nelspruit-born artist and dancer, real name Costa Tsobanoglou, has passed away.
He was 27. #RIPCostaTitch pic.twitter.com/u6VP3p7x88
— Kgopolo (@PhilMphela) March 11, 2023
The passing of Costa Titch comes as music fans are still mourning the loss of fellow rapper AKA, whose real name was Kiernan Forbes. He was shot outside of a restaurant in Durban by unknown hitmen and the South African Police Service (SAPS) are still investigating the case. Interestingly, both Costa Titch and AKA have collaborated on a song called Super Soft.
His amapiano single, Big Flexa, which was released in December 2021, became the most viewed Amapiano video in late 2022. The track features Alfa Kat, Banaba Des, Sdida, Man T and C’buda M. In the song’s music video, the rapper shows off his impeccable dancing skills with Soweto’s Finest, a local dance group.
The video has officially reached 30.7 million views on YouTube, beating out MFR Souls, Major League DJz, Bontle Smith and Kamo Mphela’s Amanikiniki, which stands at 30 million.
Big Flexa has also wowed fans on other Spotify and TikTok. On Spotify, the track has accumulated more than six million listens while on TikTok, the sound has been used more than 105 000 times.