Over the past two years, South African amapiano star Musa Keys has established himself as not only one of the top musicians in the country, but also as arguably the best performer we have.
This was in full view at the very first Corona Sunsets Festival World Tour event which kicked off in Cape Town on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Cape Town’s picturesque Glen Country Club overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Keys, who calls himself the Tsonga Michael Jackson, ran through his stellar discography with immaculate precision and a commanding stage presence.
His performance included hits like “Kancane”, “Selema (Po Po)”, “Vula Mlomo” and “M’nike”.
“It was delicious, it was amazing, I loved the crowd,” said Keys when we spoke backstage.
“It’s something different. We hardly have these things in South Africa, to be quite honest with you. We don’t have daytime vibes like that and this was one of a kind. I loved it.”
Keys also revealed that’s he’s in love with the city of Cape Town. “This is my favourite city in South Africa. It’s so refreshing: the water, the mountains, beautiful houses, the aesthetic. It feels like we’re not in South Africa. So I just love it here.”
There were also performances from South African artists Msaki, Sun-El Musician, GoodLuck and Black Motion.
Legendary Grammy Award-winning US DJ Louie Vega was the headline act and he closed off the show in style.
The global touring festival is now set to follow the sunset across the world with a full year of festivals with international musicians and DJs performing at 14 iconic beach destinations across the globe.
As for Keys, he’s currently riding the wave of his feature on the lead single on Nigerian afrobeats star Davido’s new album, “Timeless”.
The lead single, which is titled “Unavailable” and only came out on Friday, has already sparked thousands of TikTok dance challenges.
He shared how the song came about. “I was in Amsterdam and I was going to support TXC, the two amapiano girls, and then Davido was there as well.
“We had been texting all along and then we met for the first time in the club and he was like, ‘Yo, you know what I need you on my album’.”
Initially, Keys wasn’t sure how serious Davido was. “Then sometime later he DMs me, telling me that he’s submitting on this day and says, ‘I need you to handle something’. His manager as well started hitting me up and they sent me the beat and stuff and I just recorded from home and sent it through.
“I was actually kind of nervous and not sure about my verse and they just kept quiet.
“And then later on I was like, ‘How do yall feel about it?’ and they were like, ‘Bro, that’s the one’.”