producer of ‘Jam down’ introduced
me to the producer of ‘Woza
Friday’. So initially, I was
shortlisted for ‘Woza Friday’, so I
had been on their waiting list for a
while, with a couple of other
presenters. And then this guy from
‘Five’, the producer of ‘Five’, invited
me to audition for ‘Five’ because he
said that I could wait forever. And
then instantly we clicked. Me, the
camera and the producer we
clicked. ‘Five’ is now some months
old. That is like very distant from
the kitchen but yeah it has been fun.
GM.: Other than presenting, what
else do you do?
Tinashe: I am a spoken-word artist
but I paint words for a living.
GM.: Where do you see yourself
in the near future?
Tinashe: Well I see myself cooking
because that is like mandatory. I
still want to cook food. I want to do
a really eight-star establishment,
putting in the resources togethe r.
And definitely I want to go main
stream with the spoken-word
because I believe that my product is
ready, it is a real game changer. I
have worked with an amazing team
of producers and a pool of artist,
musicians and poets. That project
on its own is gonna change the
game. I want to be the most
celebrated TV presenter around,
sooner or later, I would really like
that.
GM.: Tinashe is…..
Tinashe: Psycho. (Laughs) I’m
mentally disturbed and lyrically
creative. I speak before I think but
I pick my words. That makes me
very weird. (Laughs again)
GM.: You have mentioned that
you have worked with a number
of artists on your project. Who
have you worked with; and who
would you like to work with in
the near future locally and
internationally?
Tinashe: I have worked with
mainly the guys from Spinalong
Music; it’s a newly found stable,
studio where a set of DJs called D9
record. They are behind every
track on my album. Locally I’ve
worked with Don, So Profound,
Madzitatiguru, Mandisa from
Bots, Richie Orange. Amazing,
amazing artist Richie Orange. I’m
still working with Ammara
Brown. How could I forget my
boy, Xolani, X-mile? He was a
Starbrite finalist; he was in third
place last year. I’m also about to
get into the studio with this lady
called Lihle. She’s an amazing
vocalist. I’ve worked with the
Djembe Monks. But ultimately, I
would like to work with Steve
Makoni. I don’t know why this
guy is underrated, but to me he’s
legendary. And it’s a privilege that
he is still alive. I think that he is an
amazing and exceptional
musician. I would like to work
with mainly producers but I would
like to work with Berita from
South Africa.
I interviewed her and I thought
wow, she’s amazing. Maybe this
girl called Nekka, she’s from
Nigeria. She’s half-Nigerian and
half-German. She’s amazing.
Internationally a producer I think,
I don’t think that internationally
no one can complement what we
are doing here, we are cool as we
are, but I wouldn’t mind trying to
work with the guys from the
Swedish House Mafia, or Greg
Osvaldo.
GM.: Last words
Tinashe: Look out for my EP, a
powerful selection. A nine track
selection. It is a game changer. We
are really trying to commercialise
poetry, yet maintain the quality
and relevance of the substance.
Tinashe speaks eleven languages
including Ndebele, Shona,
English, Pedi, Sotho, Xhosa, and
Zulu, a bit of Creole, Portuguese,
Venda, and Italian. Some of the
languages he learns through his
food.
Watch Tinashe, as he counts
down your favourite music
videos on ‘Five’ every Friday at
1400 hours on ZTV.
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