Costa Titch, a South African rapper, died suddenly this weekend, his family said on Instagram. He had just played at a music festival a few hours before his death. His real name is Constantinos Tsobanoglou, and he was 28 years old.
Social media videos showed what looked like Tsobanoglou falling on stage and being helped up by someone nearby. Then, Tsobanoglou stands up for a few seconds before he seems to fall down.
Tsobanoglou’s family said in a post on his Instagram –
“It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.”
“We are thankful for those emergency responders and all those present in his last hours.”
The cause of death was not said in the sentence. Ultra South Africa, the event where he was performing, said it was “devastated” by the death of the young rapper.
The statement read –
“Costa was a galvanizing voice amongst South Africa’s amapiano scene – a talented rapper, dancer, singer, songwriter, collaborator and friend to the festival.”
Tsobanoglou was a big deal in South Africa and one of the biggest stars of amapiano, a style of music with deep house, log-drum driven basslines, and soulful piano melodies.
His style of rapping combines the culture, style, and native languages of South Africa with international rap subgenres like trap music, which started in Atlanta’s thriving hip-hop scene.
Tsobanoglou was born in Nelspruit, which is in the northeast of South Africa. Before he became a rapper, he had a successful career as a dancer. After “Big Flexa” did well on TikTok, Tsobanoglou became famous all over Africa.
Akon, a Senegalese-American musician, started a record label, which the rapper recently joined. Akon was on a remix of “Big Flexa,” which was made by the rapper. A month before Tsobanoglou died, one of his friends and fellow rappers, AKA, was shot and killed.