OPINION | Dissecting the Costa Titch & cultural appropriation debate

Just as we were walking into the more “fun level” of the national lockdown imposed to help curb the spread of Covid-19, a white guy who dresses like Billie Eilish and sports neon lime hair came under fire thanks to his kasi-inspired music and amapiano dance moves.

Costa Titch, an up-and-coming rapper, put out a video on his social media platforms that went viral. However, instead of people going gaga over his talent or his use of local languages, Costa’s style of music and dance ignited a debate about cultural appropriation, of which he has been accused.

In addition to being accused of biting Pretoria-representing Focalistic ( another newcomer who owned 2020), Costa was accused of only doing music in languages such as Zulu and Tswana as a way to make money off the currently popular amapiano genre.

Due to the fact that he’s white, some tweeps felt he was stealing from the kasi culture cultivated by black people for fame and fortune.

This opinion piece offers a different take on the matter.

Can Costa be accused of stealing a culture in which he grew up and immersed himself? A culture so closely tied to his identity as a person born and raised in Mzansi?

Was the cultural appropriation accusation justified and if so, why didn’t other popular SA white musicians, like Johnny Clegg or PJ Powers, get the same accusation thrown their way?

Read the full opinion piece below:

I followed with interest the debates and discussions had all around me in reality and on the socials after a few tweeps accused young dancer-turned-rapper Costa Titch of cultural appropriation when a video of him dancing in amapiano style and rapping in s'Pitori went viral on the TL.

The big hoo-ha had to do with the fact that Costa Titch, whose real name is Costa Tsobanoglou, is white. The 25-year-old hails from Nelspruit and has been in the entertainment industry for a few years as a dancer, but recently branched out into rap.

It is his style of rap, aesthetic and language of choice that made him the talk of the town. Costa raps in English and the Pretoria dialect s'Pitori, and an additional strength is the fact that he can dance better than most people when it comes to moves created for amapiano beats and songs.

His iTunes bio describes Costa's music as a “dance-friendly iteration of hip-hop that taps into SA’s rich cultural landscape with deft flow in isiZulu, Sesotho, English and Afrikaans”.

Unfortunately for him, his skin colour has made people “evaluate” his strengths differently as there are folks who feel Costa is stealing from a culture they claim isn't his.

Cultural appropriation has to do with relegating culturally important objects to “exotic” or fashionable pieces by the dominant culture. Some have argued that as the world becomes one global village, cultural appropriation will be inevitable.

For me, South Africans have a particularly tricky situation when it comes to charging “one of their own” with cultural appropriation.

I say this because didn't we call ourselves the “rainbow nation”? The country that identifies as a collective despite the diversity of cultures within in it?

How can a person born and bred in Mzansi be accused of stealing from a culture he's supposedly a part of?

It was simple for me when Africans charged at British musician Adele for her Bantu knots and even when they fetched Kim Kardashian-West in 2018 for her braids - but charging Costa felt a bit more complex.

I've been here long enough to witness South Africans drag other South Africans on the TL for praising white people who speak black people's languages like isiZulu, isiXhosa, Tshivenda, XiTsonga, Sepedi, Sesotho and so on,  but I remember the argument: If white people are going to call Mzansi home, then they need to learn the languages and immerse themselves in the varied cultures of its people.

Therefore, most people concluded at the time, we shouldn't applaud a white person for learning a language native to SA. It should be expected that they know other languages besides English and Afrikaans. For Mzansi to truly be a rainbow nation, everyone needed to show their efforts in learning and understanding the people with whom they share home.

That sounded like a good, logical narrative. Then came Costa - multilingual and deeply immersed in kasi culture - and it's a "no" from us? The same people who called for effort from abelungu? I'm confused.

I wasn't the only one confused because I saw people who asked how can we accuse Costa of cultural appropriation when we hailed the late Johnny Clegg and continue to support PJ Powers' Jabulani freely.

I don't want to disrespect Johnny in any way because I got his story and history first hand and can say with confidence  he was the “Zulu” guy he said he was.

I haven't spoken to PJ but I love that Jabulani jam, especially the remix with the late HHP.

For me these are two musicians who didn't let their skin colour limit their creative expression and they were/are — for the most part — appreciated for that very fact.

I am aware that times have changed since then. The “woke” people of this day and age scrutinise and analyse things in a different way.

I also understand that as black people, we are proudly pro-black in many aspects for the first time in years.

However, does all that mean we have to shut down people's creativity based on their skin colour? Also, if that's the case, why is it okay for black or even coloured people to “borrow” western people's language and parts of their culture, but Costa can't dance to amapiano beats?

I can understand the Focalistic comparisons, especially based on that viral video. However, with that said, Focalistic is in his own league if we're all being honest with ourselves.

Even though I am yet to personally speak to Costa, I agree with rapper Cassper Nyovest and many others that the guy is just having fun and giving us good jams.

Comedian Nina Hastie, who has also been accused of cultural appropriation in the past, worded it wonderfully for me in an interview three years ago.

Nina said: “I feel like cultural appropriation takes place when people who are not invested or actively engaged in a culture use its elements to make profit. That is not where I am coming from. I'm not a visitor in this country, using its culture, traditions and heritage for my own financial benefit then going back to where I come from. Instead, I am actively participating in learning and understanding these cultures.”

Truth is one can only accuse Costa of “stealing the culture” if you fundamentally believe he's a “visitor” in SA and not a citizen. But SA is Costa's home - maybe not his ancestors' home, but definitely his home.

Therefore, unless it becomes clear Costa is using kasi culture for the fame, money and fortune only, the guy must just be left alone!