Sandisiwe Dube
Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
HOUSE musician Sandisiwe Dube aka TKP says she wants to be one of the top musicians in the country as there are few females in the industry.
The self-styled First Lady of Zim house is signed under Afro Platinum Media which produced her hit song Mhururu.
TKP is the only female artiste doing house music in the country and Mhururu is taken from her latest album Salibonani.
The Magwegwe-born songstress said the reason she chose house music was because she wanted to break barriers in the music industry for women.
“Women have jus accepted that they should do gospel, R&B, jazz, the sort of safe options. And we don’t command a lot of respect in genres such as hip hop and house. But that’s all going to change now because we are slowly but surely making our way into the mainstream,” said TKP.
She said although she did not win at last month’s Zimbabwe Music Awards, she was proud to be the only woman on a nominees list dominated by males.
“There are a few women doing house music. The biggest names in terms of producers and DJs are men. When I came into this industry some years back, I presented myself as a solo artist bit I now find myself nominated in a category not dedicated to women only which is quite encouraging. The people out there are accepting both me and my music with open arms,” said TKP.
TKP is an acronym for The Kasi Princess which the 24-year-old artiste believes is a representation of her background as she grew up in Magwegwe North.
She said she was interested in music when she was in grade five but was turned down at school.
“I wrote my first song when I was 11 years old. A year later I tried to audition for the school choir but I was told I was hopeless. I was really disappointed and I gave up on music for a while but at the back of my mind I knew I was born for the spotlight,” said TKP.
She said her musical career began in 2013 during a hip hop show at Amakhosi after being offered a contract by Afro Platinum director Reason “Rizzla” Sibanda.
“In 2013 I worked with a Bulawayo producer called DJ Wexey and recorded a few tracks with him. People fell in love with one of the tracks I recorded with him. Wexey was so impressed with the quality of the tracks and we ended up working on more projects together.
The same year I then met Babongile by chance at DJ Wexey’s studio and he was impressed with my music. During a hip hop show at Amakhosi, Babongile invited Afro Plaitnum’s Rizzla, who was in the country scouting for talent, and he was impressed with my performance. Rizzla sampled my stuff and decided to sign me,” said TKP.
The songstress released a six track EP (Extended Play) in 2013 titled The First Lady of Zim House.
The EP has tracks such as Ndoyenda and Phumilanga that received a lot of air play on local radio stations.
TKP has shared the stage with renowned award winning artists such as Black Motion and Kalawa Jazmee’s Kwaito star Professor.