Francois van Coke has just dropped a brilliantly heart-warming visual for his new single “Victor Lodurum”, directed, shot and edited by Johannes Pieter Nel, which features some of South Africa’s biggest sports stars and, well, it’s great.
He plays rugby with the legendary Damian Willemse, gets beaten in a game of netball against Vanes-Marie Du Toit and gets smoked in a freestyle race against Olympic Gold Medalist Ryk Neethling. Other icons include Carina Horn (100m SA Record Holder), Carla Maackenzie (Sundowns footballer) Rassie Van Der Dussen (Proteas cricketer) and Cameron Saaiman (UFC Bantamweight).
Francois pretty much loses against all of them, as to be expected, and it’s a humbling message of perseverance. “[The song] is about not trying so hard to fit in, and play the game on other people’s terms,” Francois tells TATC.
“Because the song is about trying less, I thought it would be funny to really try against well-known sport stars,” he continued. “It was amazing that they allowed me to enter their worlds. I hope people see that it’s not as easy as it looks!”
The track also comes as the first of three singles being pre-released by Francois before he drops his highly anticipated full-length album in March 2025. Off the back of his sold-out arena show Francois van Coke & Vriende on the 4th of October, Francois seems unstoppable at the moment. The all-star line-up included Karen Zoid, Spoegwolf, Jack Parow, Early B, Neon Dreams, Die Heuwels Fantasties, Elandré, Fokofpolisiekar, Tasché, and Hunter Kennedy, and is being hailed as his best show yet.
