TKZEE’S 1st album in 8 years the story is as follows

TKZEE

COMING HOME

On TKZee’s first studio album in eight years, Coming Home, Tokollo “Magesh” Tshabalala, Kabelo “Bouga Luv” Mabalane, and Zwai Bala make no secret of their thrill at being back in the studio, back in the spotlight and back on top.

“Let me tell you a thing about TKZee/it’s a brand oozing with supremacy … you want repertoire? We got it/Earning capacity? We got it/Hits back to back? We got it?,” Kabelo boldly states on the superb and eternally optimistic ‘Thata Eezy’.

It’s a sentiment that ripples throughout the album’s 12-tracks – echoing the buzz that Tokollo, Kabelo and Zwai have felt since deciding to reunite to record a follow-up to 2001’s ‘Trinity’, much to the delight of the group’s extensive and loyal fanbase.

“We told you. We told you alright, we’ll be back with a bang,” goes album opener, ‘Everyday’ and on ‘Viva la Pantsula!’, TKZee (with the help of a few creative collaborators) reclaim the enduring street cred they always had and balance it, just like in the group’s early days, with an astute sense of high-end drama and musicality.

The magic of TKZee has always had its foothold in the singular combining of the vocal and lyrical style of each of the band’s three members – Tokollo rough-hewn and streetwise, Kabelo full of swagger and smooth where required and Zwai punching in with real sonic power.

Nowhere is this more evident than on ‘Dikakapa’, a track that’s bookmarked by the piano-playing and strings (both synth and live) that TKZee managed to always find a place for in its sound. With Zwai providing the spot-on hook, it’s left to Tokollo and Kabelo to riff off each other in a song that’s full of the bounce that always made TKZee’s songs so damn irresistible.

‘Dikakapa’ may be an album standout but the interplay of the trio of vocals is on brilliant form throughout ‘Coming Home’ – especially on songs like ‘Let’s Go’, which draws in all three vocals in the seamless, flowing way that has been TKZee’s signature in the 13 years since they first impacted the South African music scene with debut EP ‘Take It Eeezy’ in 2006.

Even in the earlier days, TKZee was able to lasso some scorching hot collaborators – and ‘Coming Home’ also features a brace of top-drawer collab efforts. The horn-heavy, swaggering and defiantly celebratory Viva la Pantsula! features Gwyza, S’bu and Loyiso on a stormer of a track that also underscores TKZee’s influence on and hand in creating the careers of other key urban artists.

As you may expect from a group that’s always effortlessly displayed its versatility, not every track on Coming Home is Guz-style, upbeat, and party-ready. Towards the end of the album are several songs that reveal the maturity and spirituality of the bands members. Among these are Coming Home, featuring Joyous Celebration and Ntokozo Mbambo, as well as TKZee’s version of ‘Children Hold On’ – both songs injecting a moving emotional element to the record.

What’s strikingly evident on ‘Coming Home’ is the meticulous attention to detail in the production. In this Zwai – who takes the production reigns for the most part – has observed the intricate workings of worldclass producers like Quincy Jones.

“Nothing is left to chance,” he confides. “Everything part of every song is arranged,” adds Zwai, hinting at the effort put into delivering a top-drawer product.

With Zwai at the helm and Kabelo assisting on several songs, ‘Coming Home’ has a polish and finely honed sense of musicality that has been lacking on many other releases in similar genres. “The result of everyone’s great efforts is the sound of TKZee all grown up and I think that fans will really respond to what they hear on the album,” says Tokollo.

Also weighing in with additional production are the likes of Terry Pinana and Godfrey “Guffy” Pilane – Pilane contributing production duties on the most defiantly kwaito of all the album’s tracks, ‘Sdudla’ which is already proving a radio hit in South Africa.

Another of TKZee’s music signature’s has always been a real ability to balance programmed music with live instruments and tracks like the out-and-out Gospel song ‘Coming Home’ features a trio of brilliant musicians in Zwai on piano, Victor Masondo on bass and Lawrence Matshiza on guitars.

All of this rigorous attention to the detail of the music, the lyrics, the performances means that recording ‘Coming Home’ was as much of a challenge as an exhilaration. “The emotions were running high throughout the recording process,” admits Kabelo, adding that while it may have been draining at times, this had the effect of pouring the trio’s passion into each of the songs.

“What I think is really key is that we didn’t just decide to get back together and make an album that is simply about delivering something new for fans to listen to,” says Zwai. “We wanted to treat this album with the same love for the genre that we had right in the beginning, although obviously bringing all our different professional and personal experiences into the mix.”

The vision that drives ‘Coming Home’ then is not one based on nostalgia or a whim: as all 12 tracks prove, TKZee have once again brewed up something special in the Guz kitchen to create a scorcher of a record that more than lives up to the expectations of fans – and gives urban music a real injection of fresh, optimistic energy.

So come summer 2009, it’s time to turn up the heat and dial up the volume switch. TKZee are back. Play it loud!

About TKZee:

TKZee is the band that has rewritten the South Africa’s musical history books by becoming the biggest selling kwaito group in the country. The group is made up of three school friends – Tokollo Tshabalala, Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala – who had a passion for music and this showed in their success.

Zwai is a classically trained musician who met aspiring rappers Kabelo (Bouga) and Tokollo (TK) at St Stithians College. This is TKZee. Their sound is unique. It is a mixture of hip-hop, classical, house, and gospel beats that fuse into what is called “Guz” music. This is a deadly combination that had Mzansi’s youth jamming to a never-heard-before new and exciting beat since the late 90s.

In 1996, the group self produced the single and EP “TAKE IT EEZY”. Relatively unknown at the time, the sound was ahead of its time and floundered (though has since been rediscovered as a classic by many music fans and musicians).

But real talent will out and TKZee shot to prominence in late 1997 and early 1998 with their smash hit singles PALAFALA and then SHIBOBO. PALAFALA became an instant hit, with the CD single selling over 100 000 units. The album also featured guest appearances by S’bu, who had been a member of Mashaplani with Tokollo.

The group’s next big release was SHIBOBO (June 1998) with Bafana Bafana and Blackburn Rovers Striker Benni McCarthy on the mic. The song, which samples THE FINAL COUNTDOWN, was an instant success.

Sales topped the 100 000 mark in just over a month, a feat which made SHIBOBO the fastest and biggest selling CD single by a South African recording artist in history. This single featured hot new tracks GUZ (named after TKZee’s hybrid sound) and SERENADE. The group quickly became a household name not just in South Africa but across the continent.

TKZee’s third album, HALLOWEEN hit the streets in late October 1998. This was another huge hit for the group off the back of hit singles “DLALA MAPANSULA”, “Mambotjie” and “We Love this Space”. The multiple-platinum album earned TKZee four SA Music Awards – for Best Kwaito Album, Best Duo/Group, Best Single and Best Kwaito Single. The album also earned a fifth SAMA on that fateful night for “Best Video”. To date (2009), this record haul of 5 SAMAs in one night has not been surpassed.

In 2000 came GUZ 2001, a compilation album by TKZee Family, consisting of the original TKZee members alongside other names including Gwyza, Loyiso, 2 shot and the late Dr Mageu sharing the musical stage with Kutlwano Masote and jazz genius Moses Taiwa Molelekwa.

In 2002, Zwai, Tokollo and Kabelo took the decision to pursue their solo careers – and all three have proved to be successful in different ways. Now, seven years later, TKZee is reformed, re-energised and ready to again claim their status as innovators and musical adventurers. ‘Coming Home’ is modern and futuristic but still with enough GUZ flavour to keep it unmistakably TKZee – and is nothing short of a celebration of the lives and musical journeys of three of South Africa’s most gifted artists.

Discography

1996: Take It Eezy

1998: Shibobo

1999: Halloween

1999: Guz 2001 (TKZee Family)

2001: Trinity

2004: Guz Hits (Compilation)

2009: Coming Home