Johannesburg, 22 July 2016: Cassper Nyovest’s latest track, ‘Mr Madumane’ (Big $pendah), was released today at an exclusive event in Maboneng. The hip-hop star’s latest offering is guaranteed to heat up dance floors, but the song was written with a higher purpose in mind. Timed to coincide with National Savings Month, the track is Nyovest’s attempt to urge South Africans to get wise with their money, to think twice before getting into debt, and to prioritise clever saving and investing for the future over flashy spending.
The video is part of the #ConspicuousSaving initiative, a partnership between Nyovest, model and actress Pearl Thusi and financial services company Sanlam to demonstrate the value of being thrifty, taking money seriously, avoiding debt and actively building wealth. The initiative – which culminates in the release of this video – played out over the course of July through a series of communications which showed that while Thusi and Nyovest may enjoy the finer things in life, they know the value of the rand, hard work and being clever with their money. And they value this above being ‘conspicuous spenders’.
“We all know a Mr Madumane, the flamboyant guy you never see without a flashy accessory. He spends thousands trying to impress everyone, yet no one is impressed. This attitude is what inspired this song. We need to rethink what’s important to us. We keep spending ourselves poor trying to look rich. We need to realise that you can’t spend yourself rich. Which is why the message of ‘Mr Madumane’ (Big $pendah) is so relevant. South Africans need to realise how they allow society to pressurise them into debt – if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it,” explains Nyovest.
Cora Fernandez, chief executive of Sanlam Investments: Institutional Business says: “Sadly, National Savings Month is only one month of the year. But for 12 months of the year, South Africans are bombarded with messages about instant gratification and lured into spending. They are encouraged to get into debt in order to get what they want immediately – the car, the clothes, shoes, the jewellery, or the watches. We need to change the narrative around money, to start dinner conversations about how our investments are doing or how solid our savings slush funds are, rather than what we have just bought or planning to buy” says Fernandez. “We want to fire up a nation of #ConspicuousSaving to set ourselves on a path of true, lasting wealth creation.”
Check out the full music video and strong message on YouTube.
Through the #ConspicuousSaving collaboration with Sanlam, Nyovest has already got South Africans talking about changing their conspicuous spending behaviour. Through his social media profiles during the month of July, Nyovest showed another side of himself, a side focused on saving. The fans loved him for it:
- tha_ceez Really appreciate the move you’re taking towards being real about money and how it should be spent wisely, hope the masses are listening @casspernyovest #money #ballin #economical #keepinitreal #braai #goingout #educate
- xs It’s good to see a star remembering the background. Ekasi made you bro and going back to support doesn’t mean you’ve fallen nor does it mean you’re broke. This is touching lives #stilloneofus #stillourhommie
- ooo5_star @casspernyovest look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. Does apply with rands too you go boy
ABOUT THE VIDEO
The ‘Mr Madumane’ (Big $pendah) video is all about the unexpected. It opens with a close-up of Nyovest in the front seat of a car bouncing to the beat. Then the camera pans to show Nyovest is actually in an old Renault with two guys pushing on the boot of the car to make it bounce. And then the roof drops as if it is automatic, but the camera shows two of the celeb’s squad members pulling it down. The theme of seemingly upmarket items actually being really cheap unfolds throughout the video. A complete contrast from the Bentleys and Rolex watches fans are used to seeing, the message in Nyovest’s song, both visually and lyrically, is very clear: reconsider your relationship with money and don’t allow the pressures of your social feed to drive you to spend. In collaboration with the Sanlam Group for National Savings Month in July, Nyovest’s goal is to get South Africans to reconsider their conspicuous spending behaviour.
To find out more about the #ConspicuousSaving collaboration and why Cassper and Sanlam want South Africans to take their savings as seriously as they take their selfies, watch the short documentary on www.ConspicuousSaving.co.za.
