A cross country digital party to redefine live gigs and deepening the connection between musicians and fans during the Covid-19 lock downs with Bacardi #PassTheBeat

Manthan Gada | 09th Jul, 2020

Entertainment | Music

Bacardi ‘Pass The Beat’, a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural platform, brought together leading musicians and creators from the Philippines, India, and South Africa to ‘pass the beat’ to one another and inspire feelings of self-expression and liberation among their fans. Fifteen artists from across three countries performed unique sets on their IG live channels one after the other in a 9-hour long, action-packed digital party that fans could enjoy right from home. The sequence of countries was the Philippines, followed by India, and closed by South Africa.

The South African journey started way before party o’clock, as we saw a lot of South Africans engage with the performers from the Philippines and India during their live streams.

South Africa brought a lot to the (turn) table with some of the best, evergreen hip-hop hits with DJ Speedsta and Ganja Beatz to the freshest Amapiano beats with Durbans’ very own DBN Gogo and the kings of Amapiano – Scorpion Kings.

When Lost Stories passed on the beat to DJ Speedsta, the first artist in the South African lineup, he gave both the Indian and the SA viewers a hip-hop mix of one of Lost Stories’ recent tracks.
Speedsta wasted no time in taking the energy meter right to the top with his chartbusters like Mayo and Naughty.

DJ Speedsta passed on the beat to Heemal from the hip-hop producer trio Ganja Beatz, who has given beats to some of the greatest hits South Africa has seen over the last decade.
Heemal took fans on a nostalgia trip when he played some of his best hits like Gusheshe with Cassper Nyovest, Wes-Kaap with Youngsta CPT and then he premiered his upcoming release with Costa Titch – ISH that went on to become a chartbuster in the coming weeks.
Heemal passed the beat to the Scorpion Kings, a duo – DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small that has managed to put Amapiano music on the global spectrum.
With their mesmerizing live visuals, Scorpion Kings performed 60 minutes of some of the best electronic dance music for our live viewers on Instagram from all over the world.
With hits like eMcimbini, Suka, and Nguwe the kings took this dance party up a notch!

To conclude this 9-hour long party, 'Scorpion Kings' gave the baton to our last artist for the night, DBN Gogo who only added more heat to Pass The Beat. The Queen graced us with an audiovisual theatrical treat of her pounding yet soulful dance music. With hits like Mayonice, Ke Star, amongst others she sure ended this Bacardi stream party on a high note.

Our artists were also supported by dance queens Sne Mbatha and Bontle Modiselle who took the party to the fans by starting a dance challenge with them on the tracks by our four performing artists building the hype around the campaign. Here is a sneak peek at how they turned up the heat!

On The Gram

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sDo3cHr9E/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_r-1jgJIiG/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_urISgpnSy/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_zUrx8pv-d/

From nostalgic hits to unreleased tracks, the South African artists and their fans had a great music experience with Bacardi #PassTheBeat. This cross-border party brought in fans and appreciation not only in South Africa but also from India and the Philippines. Check out some of the videos our fans shared as a part of the movement:

On The Gram

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2GW2JF4pW/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_8JErQpojp/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAqJwkNJ__W/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAajpSeDxWZ/

Here’s the #PassTheBeat Spotify playlist with three and a half hours of the best tunes from the South Africa live streams. Start looking because you are going to need the dancing shoes for this one!