- The ATI brand to continue rebranding and penetrating international markets in 2018
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Reports and speculation have been rife that local artist and Khiring Khorong crooner Atlasaone ‘ATI’ Molemogi has been signed under Cassper Nyovest’s label, Family Tree. Speculation further suggests that Cassper Nyovest said he was delighted to have expanded his record label to other countries and signing one of Botswana’s finest hip hop artists. ATI’s manager, Lloyd Totego in an interview with Time Out dismissed the allegations stating that ATI was still an independent artist.
“Those rumours are not true. ATI is not signed under Family Tree. The only time we were in contact with Cassper Nyovest was about a performance that did not materialize at the time,” he said.
After reading into the rumours, ATI’s fans opined that it would be a bad move for the artist to be signed under a record label as he was doing well as an independent artist. They opined that being signed under a record label is a slave deal as artists most times do not own their music, their release and tour dates are controlled and returns are shared amongst the record label and the artist.
When asked if they will take up the opportunity to sign if it arose, Toteng said it would be a great opportunity to work with Cassper Nyovest in terms of collaborations but not being signed under his label. “Remember we are still building the ATI brand, we are still trying to push his album Envelope and we would like to see it growing and penetrating international markets. Opportunities of working together are welcome but we are not signing under any record label,” he adds.
Commenting on their plans for the brand in the new year Toteng said ATI continues to create music and forge collaborations locally and internationally. “We are aware that ATI has an audience outside the African continent, his music is loved and we would like to poach that market,” he said, adding that they are anticipating 2018 to be an opportunity-filled year for ATI.
Despite the claims, Cassper Nyovest has himself not communicated any news of signing any new members to his record company.