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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
WHENEVER someone mentions the name Tebza, a pint-sized school boy who captured the hearts of Zimbabweans with his energetic dance moves and music during the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (RoilBAA) in 2019, comes to mind.

Born on February 20, 2005, the youthful entertainer has songs like Waz’khothilihlo (which he performed during that epic night), President Wama 2k and Wonk’umuntu uyajaiva under his belt that have lit up dance floors in his home city of Bulawayo.

Now a Form Four pupil at Bulawayo’s Milton High School, Tebza started off his career some five years ago.

“I started singing at the age of 11 and my first track was Wonk’umuntu. I didn’t push it that much as I was beginning my career and didn’t know how to do things.

“A guy called ManPlaza (Tinashe Nyathi) who runs a studio in New Magwegwe has assisted me a lot as he showed me around and gave me a feel of the studio. He also helped me write lyrics for some of my songs,” said Tebza.

Now widely known for being a kwaito musician, Tebza said he now wants to branch out into other genres.

“I’m changing my focus from just kwaito to all other genres as I want to try out hip-hop, rap, house and the like. If I do just kwaito, it’ll limit me as a musician,” said Tebza.

Tebza says he has learnt to be an entrepreneur as he now ghost writes for other artistes.

“I’ve learnt to write my own lyrics and I now also write for other artistes and sell them. It’s called ghost writing. It’s lucrative as people are coming to me in their numbers.”

It has however, not been a smooth journey for Tebza who has been short-changed by people pretending to assist grow his career.

His best advice to any up-and-coming or established artiste is that they should not be managed by a fellow artiste.

“What I learnt in this industry is that one should never make the mistake to be managed by an artiste. If you are managed by an artiste, you’ll both be chasing the same thing and because they’ll be pushing their own hustle, they won’t consider yours.

“If they get bookings for shows, they will take them and exclude you. After realising this, I decided to look for my own shows and do my own thing,” said Tebza.

He said he is working closely with Bulawayo-based AJV Afri Art for the production of his visuals for tracks such as President Wama 2k and most recently Tshisa Bhe.

The energetic artiste has also tried out acting with a role in local soapie, Indlalifa: The Heir that was produced by AJV Afri Art.

Tebza said the late music producer Cal Vin taught him a lot about the industry.

“Cal Vin and I had a great relationship. I actually still can’t believe he is gone. I met him in 2017 when I went to his studio to master and mix a song that I had recorded.

“Cal Vin actually taught me most of the stuff which I now know about the music industry. He taught me how to mix and master vocals and how to write lyrics and the flows,” said Tebza.

He said some people thought he was signed under Cal Vin’s Kontrol Tribe label but he was not.

“Cal Vin wanted to sign me to Kontrol Tribe and we were both taking our time to bring each other to the table. He was interested in having me on board for a long time and it’s unfortunate that he died before this could happen.”

Tebza was put on the spotlight following his outstanding performance at the 2019 RoilBAAs where he electrified the auditorium and mesmerised audiences. To show that he was a force to be reckoned with, he went on to win the RoilBAA Outstanding Newcomer Award.

Since that event there has been a lot of attention around him.

Tebza said he has been basking in the attention although it overwhelms him sometimes.

“At the City Hall (RoilBAA venue), it was hard passing by with girls screaming to see me,” he said.

Due to the attention, he said, a lot of people started claiming that they were managing his career with some claiming that they wrote lyrics for his music. He said all this was not true as they were just attention seekers.

Naturally when a person becomes famous, girls start throwing themselves at him but Tebza said he has been able to handle the situation.

“I don’t have time or energy for a girlfriend. I’m focused on school and my music career,” said Tebza with a chuckle.
Sadly for Tebza, the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak came when he was just starting to enjoy his music career.

“Last year we had big plans as we wanted to do shows all over Bulawayo to get the brand Tebza and my music known by the people. But the pandemic and the continuous lockdowns dashed all those plans” said Tebza.

Not only was his music disrupted, but his schooling was affected as well as he was among the thousands of pupils whose learning was disrupted.

“With schoolwork, I had to get extra lessons so that I keep up with my schooling because I’m sitting for my Form Four exams this year. I want to pursue a career in music fully as this is my passion but this doesn’t mean that I will drop schooling.

“I want something to fall back on in case the music thing doesn’t work out,” said Tebza.

Tebza was able to record two music videos, President Wama 2k and most recently Tshisa Bhe despite the Covid-19 challenges.

President Wama 2k was a hit and topped local charts.

Tebza is in South Africa on holiday with family and on holiday, he managed to perform at a show in Mpumalanga where Sbu from Uzalo was the guest. He is also working on new music with help from Fish M McSwagg at his recording in his studio.

This year looks very promising for Tebza as he has grown from being the Best Newcomer at the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards to penetrating the Zimbabwe Music Awards where he has been nominated in the Best Dance house/kwaito category for this year’s awards. — @bonganinkunzi