Dare to love? Challenge accepted!

What do ice cream and music have in common? Well, it’s kind of a long story, but here’s the basic gist: SA’s much-loved ice-cream brand Cornetto recently launched their Dare to Love campaign, in which they dared consumers and celebrities to take a chance on love. In the spirit of their campaign, and when they caught wind that Mi Casa was planning to perform in Cape Town, Cornetto dared the house band to share the love and take their show on the road to all major South African cities, not just the Mother City. Men being men, Mi Casa accepted the challenge, but in return they dared Cornetto to become involved with their tour and to create the ultimate fan experience. And so it came to pass that the soulful house music trio will be touring the country to give fans their first taste of their new album Home Sweet Home.

Mi Casa is one of SA’s hottest musical success stories. With multiple awards under their belts, the boys have been extending their catchy brand of South African dance to the rest of the world, and following gigs in London, Italy, Portugal and Canada, they managed to find some time to squeeze in some very fruitful studio recording sessions which formed the basis of the new album.

Featured on the album are local heavyweights such as Cassper Nyovest, Big Nuz and DJ Tira, as well as the very popular East African group Sauti Sol.

If you still have no idea who we’re talking about, let me fill you in. Dr Duda (producer, keyboardist and DJ) has been in the music biz for 15 years. J’Something (lead vocalist and song writer) hails from Portugal but crossed the border and moved to the Eastern Cape some years back. And finally, Mo-T (trumpeter), whose father used to blow his horn for Mango Groove, is all about that jazz and followed in his father’s footsteps. Together the three boys create soulful house music with a distinctive South African flavour.

The Johannesburg-based house band released their debut album Mi Casa Music in 2010, which quickly saw the dance trio reach new heights, and the album soar to platinum status within six months of release. This feat put Mi Casa firmly on the map and they were invited to open for international acts such as Drake, John Legend and Kool & the Gang.

Mi Casa’s sophomore album, Su Casa Mi Casa, became a double-platinum seller. Home Sweet Homewill be their third album and it promises to give them the major international breakthrough they’ve been building towards. The first single, ‘Chocolat’, has just been released nationally to rave reviews.

The Home Sweet Home album-launch road trip kicks off at Grandwest Arena in Cape Town on 4 September. From there they’ll travel to Bloemfontein’s Windmill Casino on 18 September, then on to Port Elizabeth’s Boardwalk Casino on 4 October and Sibaya Casino in Durban on 30 October. Their final stop is Johannesburg’s Gold Reef City on 13 December. The launches will feature state-of-the-art sound and lighting to bring home the experience that Mi Casa has managed to put down on their brand new album.