BENZA Reflects on AKA and Cassper Being Unique After Cassper Claims ‘Sim Dope’ Is A Bite Off His Unreleased Version Of ‘Tito Mboweni’

Banele AuthorNews1 month ago786 Views

In an episode of The L-Tido Podcast, South African rapper Cassper Nyovest reflected on a moment from the early days of his career, alleging that the late AKA’s song Sim Dope bore similarities to a track he had been working on for his debut album. Cassper made the comments while discussing his near-signing to music executive BENZA.

During the episode, Cassper said, “Kiernan is not here to like correct me if I’m wrong, I always felt like Sim Dope was like a bite of a song that I almost released in my first album and then somehow the camp got my album. I almost signed to BENZA.” He went on to add, “And then Sim Dope sounded exactly like a record I was doing and I chooped the song from the album.”

Cassper continued, saying the track in question eventually became Tito Mboweni, one of his later hits. “The funny thing is that song was Tito Mboweni, there was another version of Tito Mboweni, it was on my first album. There was another version of it and I always felt like Sim Dope was like a concept from a person like Tito Mboweni and then talking about Sim Dope. But like, I never got any confirmation.”

Following the circulation of the podcast clip, BENZA took to social media to address Cassper’s remarks. In his response, Benza stated: “Okay, I will correct you. You are wrong. The only thing I can confirm is that you were almost signed by BENZA. You guys are two different types of artists.”

BENZA further acknowledged the unique contributions of both Cassper Nyovest and AKA to the South African music industry. “SA did best by having you two around at the Same Damn Time. We all benefited. Don’t think that era will ever happen again in the South African Music Industry. But God knows we need it again.”

BENZA’s statement appears to set the record straight from his perspective, emphasizing both the individuality of the artists involved and the impact they had on the local music scene during their peak years.

While the matter of musical similarities remains unconfirmed, the exchange highlights the deep history and intertwined journeys of two of South Africa’s most influential hip-hop figures.