Kabza De Small Makes History With His Red Bull Symphonic Concert
Widely regarded as one of the finest amapiano acts of his generation, Kabelo “Kabza De Small” Motha has had a memorable run under the sun since bursting into the scene. From his hit-making exploits as one-half of Scorpion Kings alongside frequent partner-in-crime DJ Maphorisa to experiential musicianship via his King of Amapiano album series, Motha has forged himself a reputation as not only a genius with the log drum but a selfless one at that, opening his doors at PianoHub for artists to work with him.
On the weekend, the 8th and 9th of June 2024, Kabza teamed up with conductor Ofentse Pitse and Symphonic Orchestra for the Red Bull Symphonic Concert, which took place at Gold Reef City, Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg. Billed by Red Bull as a “sonic collision of two worlds”, the event featured a revised version of Kabza’s extensive repertoire transposed over an orchestra.
Kabza De Small and Ofentse Pitse
Red Bull Symphonic, as a concept, aims to fuse two unlikely worlds by bringing together a contemporary-style artist/musician and a traditional music director with the glue of a full-blown symphonic orchestra. The contemporary artist’s catalogue is given a major facelift and rearranged with the vision of the music director in mind as well as the capabilities of the team of the orchestra. Coupled with a prestigious venue, the Red Bull Symphonic aims to breathe new life on the performance side of the artist’s catalogue, reimagining the discography in a one-night-only show.
Songs performed during the event included hits such as “Adiwele”, “Nana Thula”, “Imithandazo”, and “Emcimbini”, accompanied by stellar performances from Young Stunna, MaWhoo, Nkosazana Daughter, Njelic, Sizwe Alakine, and Mthunzi among others. The concert, which was sold-out in five hours, was graced by the likes of DJ Maphorisa, BET Award-winning singer-songwriter Sjava, as well as R&B artist Donald.
Grammy-winning South African deck master Black Coffee took to X to celebrate Motha’s show, posting: “Congrats on everything King @KabzaDeSmall_”
DJ Maphorisa, besides performing with him and cheering him on among the crowd, also praised De Small, posting: “Kabza” along with fire emojis.
Ampiano DJ DBN Gogo posted: “We went to see Kabza do something historic last night.”