The beloved performer known as Costa Titch has passed away. He was just 28 years old.
According to CNN, the rapper’s death was sudden and unexpected after a video of him performing at a festival showed him collapsing on stage.
Beloved Performer Costa Titch Dead at 28 After Collapsing on Stage
Born Constantinos Tsobanoglou, the video shows the young star falling to the stage before being helped up. Titch then collapsed again.
His family took to Instagram to share a statement following his tragic passing. “Death has tragically knocked at our door. Robbing us of our beloved son, brother, and grandson. Constantinos Tsobanoglou, who South Africa had come to love and idolize under his stage name ‘Costa Titch.’”
“It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time,” Tsobanoglou’s family continued. “We are thankful for those emergency responders and all those present in his last hours.”
“As a family we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves.
Although the medical emergency was witnessed by thousands, Costa Titch’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.
The music festival where the rapper was performing when he passed away issued a statement of their own as well. “Costa was a galvanizing voice amongst South Africa’s amapiano scene – a talented rapper, dancer, singer, songwriter, collaborator and friend to the festival,” the statement read, per CNN.
Amapiano is a rather new style of music taking South Africa by storm. The style is described as “a subgenre of house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive basslines.”
TikTok was also a driving force behind Costa Titch’s rise to fame in recent years.