In Remembrance: Celebrating the Life of Catty Catt

A serene calmness surrounded the household of the dynamic rapper Catty Catt, who passed away in the early hours on Monday. His mother, close friends, family and beloved fiance all strong and trying their best to deal with their loss in the best way possible.

Born in Zambia 31 years ago, Popyeni Yearwood, as he was known to those close to him, had a normal fun-filled childhood. He was raised by his mother, who was a maternal figure to many other children who later became more like siblings to Popyeni, who was an only child.

One of those ‘brothers’, Mathew Kasheeta speaks very proudly of the friend he knew all his life. “We grew up with his mother taking care of all us and being the youngest of us all, we were basically his older brothers,” he says. He remembers his friend’s playful side, saying that he was always happy.

With the return of exiled repatriates to an independent Namibia, Popyeni made his way to his motherland, getting his start in life by attending afternoon classes at Namibia English Primary School. He later begun his primary education at People’s Primary School, where he completed Grade 7.

By the time he was ready for high school, Popyeni was to embark on a journey to one more country: South Africa. Here, he lived under the guardianship of an aunt until he finished Grade 12 at St Andrews High School in Cape Town. By then, the first seeds of his love for hip-hop were sown as he begun writing rhymes and doing covers of tracks by hip-hop giants Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.

The end of high school signalled another new beginning for the novice rapper who decided to study at the University of Namibia (Unam). Choosing commerce was perhaps not his destiny as he left university to pursue his music career. He became one of the founding member, of Black Market crew who revolutionised Namibian hip-hop. Not one to be complacent, Popyeni later started O61 Crew with cats like Sinna G, Quido and Luciano.

Another great love apart from his music was fiance Prisca Velho. Also present at his house when we visited the family, she looked stylish, with hair and make up on point. The impression that she is ‘fine’ was soon dispelled when she talked about Popyeni. With sad eyes and a voice that broke at times, she related her fondest memories of her fiance. “He always made me laugh every single day. He never liked to see me sad,” she said. Her face lit up when she remembered the times they shared, and that one of his favourite shows on TV was ‘Apollo Live’ on BET, which he wanted to be a guest on himself.

Despite rumours about the cause of his death, his family confirmed that it was in fact the deadly autoimmune disease Lupus that claimed his life. The diagnosis was unfortunately only confirmed towards the end. “Before Popyeni found out that he had Lupus, he had mixed feelings about his illness and this caused a lot of frustration for him,” said Mathews.

In remembrance of Popyeni, producer and musician Arrafath closed his studio for two days, from the day the rapper’s death was announced. Artists like Freeda, Dice, Arrafath and Faizel MC all met up at the 777 Records studio for a collaboration celebrating the life of the rapper.

The song, which will be released on radio soon, is a tribute to the rapper as well as all other artists who have passed on.

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