Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest. in Mafikeng, a borough of North West, to Muzuki and Letsebela Phoolo. Nyovest has a sister named Tsholofelo Phoolo; their late brother, Khotso Phoolo, passed on in 2003. Nyovest attended Sol Plaatjie Secondary School where he was an athlete, playing several sports, and he started rapping at the age of 12. In 2006, Nyovest failed his Grade 10 exams; this led to him moving to his grandmother’s house in Potchefstroom. After this, in 2007, he decided to formally drop out of high school at the age of 16.
In 2008, Nyovest relocated to Johannesburg, to pursue a career in music as a rapper and producer. He made the move after telling his parents that he would rather pursue his dreams—which he felt were within his reach—rather than playing it “safe” and “regretting it” his whole life. is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and amateur boxer.
With his success of selling out tickets for his concert, Fill Up the Dome 2015 which was held at Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg. The success of the event pursued Nyovest with the affix “Fill Up” to instigate more concerts in different stadiums annually, including Orlando Stadium 2016 and FNB Stadium 2017, also both in Johannesburg, Moses Mabhida Stadium 2018 in Durban, and Royal Bafokeng Stadium 2019 in North West.
Nyovest released his eponymous studio album, Refiloe, released on 31 October 2015, at his Fill Up The Dome concert. The album collaborates with several artists including The Game, DJ Drama, Stonebwoy and Casey Veggies. He followed this success with his critically acclaimed third studio album Thuto 2018, and his Kwaito-focused fourth studio album, Sweet and Short 2019.
In 2004, aged just 13, Nyovest formed a hip hop group called Childhood Gangsta with his friends. He then left to join his next group, Slow Motion, which had eight members, including record producer Aashish Gangaram of Ganja Beatz. At age 16, and after dropping out of school, Nyovest signed with motswako record label Impact Sounds, which also signed artists like Tuks Senganga and Morafe in 2006; the relationship between Nyovest and Impact Sounds eventually soured because of creative differences. In 2008, both parties separated, with Nyovest becoming an independent artist.
Nyovest moved back home, and created his own record label. Before establishing his label, he was discovered by late rapper Hip Hop Pantsula while performing, who featured Nyovest on his song “Wamo Tseba Mtho”.
With the success of Tsholofelo, Nyovest released a platinum edition of the album; this included new songs and collaborations with Casey Veggies, DJ Drama, Wizkid and Anatii. The platinum edition was released on 17 April 2015, with a limit of 10,000 copies printed.
At the end of the third quarter of 2015, Nyovest announced his intention of headlining a concert called Fill Up The Dome at the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg, on 31 October 2015. He was quoted as saying, “I want to fill the dome, which currently accommodates up to 20,000 people … to its full capacity”. He also announced that his second album, titled Refiloe, will be released on the day of the event.
On 4 March 2017, Nyovest released the lead single “Tito Mboweni” from his third album Thuto. Named after the South Africa’s Minister of Finance and former SARB governor Tito Mboweni, the song commercially trended for its lyric quote, “Shaa Shaa” which is an onomatopoeia for a money note sound.
On September 11, 2020, his fifth studio album Any Minute Now was released. The album features Zola 7, Samthing Soweto, Langa Mavuso, Tellaman, YoungstaCPT, Busiswa, Nadia Nakai, Khuli Chana, Tuks, Mo’ Molemi, Towdee Mac and DJ Lemonka. At the 2020 South African Hip Hop Awards he won three awards includes; “Song of the Year”, “Album of the Year” and “Best Male”.
On July 30, 2021, Cassper dropped his first ever Amapiano studio album Sweet And Short 2.0, which consists of 10 tracks featuring Abidoza, Samthing Soweto, LuuDadeejay, Kammu Dee, Lady Du, Ma Lemon, Semi Tee, Boohle, DJ Sumbody, Reece Madlisa, Thulz, and Zuma. On September 4, 2021, he embarked to United Kingdom for AmaFest Tour along with DJ Maphorisa, DBN Gogo and Focalistic to promote Amapiano genre. On the 30th of September, he went ahead to feature on Abidoza’s track Umjolo alongside Boohle.
Television, On September 9, 2021, he became a host of The Braai show with Cass that airs on SABC 1.
In July 2015, after months of denying any romantic involvement with each other, Nyovest and actress Boity Thulo finally confirmed (in a July issue of DRUM) that they were dating. The headline on the cover of the magazine implied that the couple was engaged, but Nyovest and Thulo later denied this, claiming that the magazine used the headline as a ploy to increase their sales. The couple would break up in December 2015.
Nyovest has been awarded and nominated for various music awards both locally and internationally. His first set of awards were in 2013 when he won four awards at the second edition of the South Africa Hip Hop Awards. On 13 April 2018, he received a nomination at the 12th Headies Award in Nigeria in the category of Best African Artiste alongside Nasty C, Sarkodie from Ghana, Kenyan group Sauti Sol, and Tanzanian singer Vanessa Mdee.
Fame vs Clout, On 22 December 2021, Nyovest held a boxing match in which he won against YouTuber, Slik Talk.
Actor vs Musician, A boxing match titled “Actor vs Musician” was held at Sun City Stadium on the 9th of April 2022. Cassper Nyovest lost to NaakMusiQ after taking him on to the fifth round.
Endorsements, Nyovest garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably with vodka brand, Ciroc which is one of his biggest endorsement deal in his career so far. Their endorsement began in 2017, when Nyovest displayed in his music video, Tito Mboweni several Cîroc bottles. Ciroc then unveiled their deal with Nyovest. In 2015, Nyovest endorsed with MTN and AG Mobile in launching a smartphone named, AG Hashtag which was inspired and partly designed by him. He also endorsed with other brands including, Shoprite, Samsung South Africa, Coca-Cola, KFC SA, Castle Lite, Nike SA and Bitcasino.
Family Tree Records, As an entrepreneur, Nyovest has founded the Family Tree Records. The record label was established in 2014 after his departure of label, Impact Soundz.
Root of Fame, In July 2021, he founded a sneaker company Root of Fame, under Drip Footwear.
Billiato, On September 6, 2021, he launched his own liquor brand named Billiato.
