Rocking the Daisies has teamed up with Johnnie Walker as title sponsor once again to give fans a taste of what to expect at this year’s edition which will be hosted from 6-8 October 2023 at Cloof Wine Estate, Darling and 8 October 2023 at SuperSport Park, Johannesburg.
Following the announcement of UK Grime and Hip-Hop artist Stormzy; Rocking the Daisies just added a whole lot more flavour with the addition of Nigerian singer and songwriter, Ayra Starr and British pop band, The Vamps to their #JWxRTD 2023 line-up.
Rocking The Daisies teamed up with Soweto-born performance power-house Bontle Moloi – managed by STAY LOW Record and Management Label – popularly known as Bontle Modiselle to build excitement on social media about the imminent announcement of Nigerian singer and songwriter, Ayra Starr.
A video with the text “South Africa, are you ready to dance like Bontle at Daisies this year?” was released on social media of the countries top dancer showing off her unrivalled choreography at the Bontle Modiselle Dance Studio, located at Hallmark House Hotel – both part of the Steyn Entertainment stable – to the soundtrack of Sability by Ayra Starr. A teaser for the public to interact with before formally confirming the TikTok sensation hours later.
The 20 year old Rush hit-maker started her career in fashion as a model at the age of 16, before going viral for doing covers on Instagram. In 2019, she posted her first original song, Toxic, on the social media platform and since then she has established a fresh and honest sound with lyricism that glides effortlessly between R&B, Afrobeats, Afrofunk, and neo-soul.
The release of her debut studio album in 2021 titled ‘19 & Dangerous’ achieved multiple number 1 hits, a number of unprecedented co-signs, and organic virality as she shared a stage with fellow Nigerian giant Burna Boy at his O2 Arena show in London. The Nigerian songstress has since performed at Coachella, collaborated with Wizkid, and has had her chart-topping single, “Rush,” off the deluxe edition of her debut album included onto former US president Barack Obama‘s favourite music list of 2022!
Later in the day, following the successful launch of Ayra, Daisies released a video on social media of the The Marabi Club band performing at the Steyn Entertainment owned restaurant and venue, located at Hallmark House Hotel, to get festival-goers excited about the imminent announcement of the UK pop-band.
Brad Simpson, James Brittain-McVey, Connor Ball and Tristan Evans, better-known as The Vamps, formed in 2012 and have gone from strength to strength over the years since releasing their debut album ‘Meet the Vamps’ in 2014 which featured some of the boy bands’ biggest hits, like ‘Wild Heart’, ‘Last Night’, ‘Somebody to You’, ‘Can We Dance’ and ‘Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart).
Before becoming headliners in their own right, The Vamps supported huge stars including Demi Lovato, The Wanted, Little Mix and Taylor Swift before establishing a cult following of vampions and vampettes. In 2017, they achieved their first number 1 on the Official UK Albums Chart with Night & Day. Their first two albums, Meet The Vamps and Wake Up are both certified Gold in the UK. They are the first band to headline London’s O2 Arena five years in a row and even though they have toured worldwide since their debut in 2012, this will be the first time that they perform in South Africa.
Rocking The Daisies have certainly given South Africa a taste of what to expect at this year’s edition of #JWxRTD, and with the addition of Ayra Starr and The Vamps to the international roster – 2023 is sure to be packed with lots of flavour.
