SANYA OSHA
RISING 28-year-old South African dancer and rapper Costa Titch (born Costa Tsobanoglou) died after collapsing on stage on 11 March while performing in Johannesburg. Costa Titch entered the entertainment world as a dancer with Cassper Nyovest, another South African hip-hop mega star, before trying his luck as a rapper, often dabbling in the country’s amapiano dance music genre.
He had a huge hit with his track Big Flexa and was destined to shine bright on the country’s music scene.
Being white, Nelspruit-born Costa Titch brought new colour and a distinctive flavour to the music scene with his use of African languages, earnest experiments in cultural subversion and elaborate urban dance routines that challenged the “white men can’t dance” myth.
There are other reasons why Costa Titch’s role in the country’s music scene can be viewed as either polarising or unifying – depending on one’s point of view.
As a white man embracing
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