''Thuto'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by South African

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Cassper Nyovest Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and amateur boxer. Born and raised in Mahikeng, North West (South African province), Nor ...

. A follow-up to his 2015 album '' Refiloe'', ''Thuto'' was released on 5 May 2017 by his imprint

Family Tree Records Family Tree Media is a South African independent record label established in 2014 by Cassper Nyovest Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, ...

with support from Bridge Entertainment.

Background and promotion

Cassper Nyovest described the project "his best work yet", and claimed the album reached gold status on the first day of its release. Upon the revealing of the tracklist, he revealed on the photo and video-sharing website

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

that he named the album "Thuto" in dedication to his elder sister Thuto Phoolo, whose birthday coincided with the album's release date. The album was supported by the single "Tito Mboweni", and features vocal

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Tsepo Tshola,

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

, Nadia Nakai, Tshego,

Goapele Goapele Mohlabane ( ; born July 11, 1977) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means ''to move forward'' in Setswana, a Southern African language. Early life Goapele's South African father Douglas Mohlabane was an exiled pol ...

and

Riky Rick Rikhado Makhado (20 July 1987 23 February 2022), known professionally as Riky Rick, was a South African rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur. He was also the founder and owner of record label ''Cotton Club Records'' and ...

. Its production was handled by Alie Keyz,

Anatii Anathi Bhongo Mnyango (born 8 January 1993), known professionally as Anatii, is a South African rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Career Anatii began his professional musical journey at the age of 14 when he received his first m ...

, Gobbla, DJ Abza, Fenesse, Lae and Zero. On 7 May 2017, he hosted the official CD launch at the Zone 6 Venue with notable artists present including

Kwesta Senzo Mfundo Vilakazi (born 11 August 1988) known professionally as Kwesta, is a South African rapper and songwriter. Born in Katlehong, Gauteng, a township also known as "K1". In 2003, at the age of 15, he and his friends formed a rap group G ...

, Naak Musiq, Kid X, DJ Switch, K.O, DJ Vigilante and DJ Dimplez.

Critical reception

''Thuto'' was released to widespread acclaim from various music websites and online outlets. Respected Nigerian music critic Joey Akan of ''Pulse Nigeria'' described the album as "a celebration of that power, and the offering of new music" and argues that the "album shows all the sides of Cassper Nyovest as South Africa’s leading Hip hop voice". In the same vein, '' The Star''s Davies Ndolo gave the album 3.5/5, writing "Cassper continues to grow into one of the deepest figures in modern hip hop and "Thuto" is the evidence of this. We can only hope his music will continue to make a significant mark in the industry". ''

Independent Online ''Independent Online'', popularly known as ''IOL'', is a news website based in South Africa that serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including '' The Star'', '' Cape Times'', '' Cape Argus'', ''Weekend Argus'', '' ...

'' was impressed with the growth Cassper Nyovest has made lyrically since his last album and further observed that "The moment his voice cuts into the soulful melody of Confused, the opening track on Thuto, it’s evident that this is something we’ve haven't heard from him before.". However, Phumlani Langa of South Africa ''Channel 24'' was not impressed with the production and lyrical content of the project, writing: "The illest thing about this album is the stolen adlib “sha-sha!” That’s it, a whole record and the only quotable I recall is ... “sha-sha!".

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Notes *"Destiny" contains samples, interpolations and resung lyrics from "Destiny" by

Malaika Malaika Nakupenda Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian artist, Adam Salim in 1945 and recorded for the first time by Kenyan musician, Fadhili William. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya a ...

*"Touch the Sky" contains a sample from "Touch The Sky" by Dennis Ferrer *"Baby Girl" contains a sample from "

Dilemma A dilemma () is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a clichéd usage, but distinguishing the dilemma from other kinds of p ...

" by

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Cassper Nyovest albums Family Tree Records albums