Eager to present his new body of work to his large crowd of fans, Cassidy Karon will be spitting lyrics at the Windhoek Spring Fiesta All White Finale at X-Lounge tomorrow.
Having been part of the Spring Fiesta (SF) lineup since its inception some 11 years ago, Karon holds the platform in high regard, saying about 40% of his fanbase is rooted there.
“I remember us creating songs with the idea of blowing away the SF crowd. All that has come full circle with this being the final edition, so you can leave the rest to the imagination,” he told VIBEZ!
Not one to slack on his solo journey, the songsmith recently released a 14-track album christened ‘Street Light’.
It is his third album, and comes only eight months after releasing his previous work – ‘Katutura’s Favourite Child’.
Asked why he dropped the albums so “close” to each other, Karon said he did not need a record that could get bookings or radio play as he achieved that with ‘Katutura’s Favourite Son’.
“So, this meant I had all the creative freedom in the world, with no boundaries at all. I think the biggest difference between the albums is how introspective and self-aware ‘Street Light’ is, compared to the others,” he commented.
Also, he was in a place where he could silence the pressure and expectation of mainstream media and that of being a “commercial artist”, said Karon.
On ‘Street Light’, the lyricist teamed up with artist/producer Devitchi, who did most of the production and created a vibe that resonates with the sound that he is accustomed to.
“Devitchi is an incredible producer, who really spends time on his craft, and takes music as seriously as I do, if not more. We’ve just found a very intelligent, efficient way to work. I could be halfway across the world from him, and we’ll still be able to make music. He is a big part of the reason why my albums sound so cohesive. There’s nothing we can’t do.”
One of the notable features on the album is a track titled ‘Gigi’s Interlude’, featuring Gigi Lamayne – a South African award-winning artist.
“I got the Gigi verse for a remix to ‘Chains’, featuring Romi back in 2020. But as fate would have it, I ended up not using the verse, and scrapping the remix altogether. Two years later, I asked Devitchi to build an entirely new track around her vocals. We probably rebuilt that song three or four times until I was happy with how we presented that powerful Gigi verse. So, the track that came back to her, two years later, was not even close to what she had recorded. A classic example of my creative process,” he beamed.
The NAMA award winner worked on ‘Street Light’ with a younger generation of artists that he respects, and presented almost a completely different texture to his previous album’s collaborators. Meanwhile, the ‘Awe’ hitmaker hinted at a possible Paradox reunion with his other half, Toufy Ekandjo, with whom he won the Best Duo at the 2012 NAMAS and Most Disciplined Artist and Popular Artist of the Year awards at the 2015 NAMAS.
“God willing! There’s so much money in that reunion. We’ve done the work already. Even if it’s just to shoot music videos for our older music, that would be enough.”
Other Namibian acts who will be on stage at the Spring Fiesta include Chester House Prince, J Black, Ryan The DJ, Mr Makoya, DJ Max, DJ Khadafi and DJ Fantasy.
– slunyangwe@nepc.com.na