Thobekani Mazwi Dhlamini aka Thobe
I’ve said it before : Music is an art. It is an art that transcends physical, mental and emotional barriers beckoning the listener to engage their senses in a continuous artistic courtship which takes you to a whole different world. It can take you to a world where you are the be all and end all of music royalty and Beyonce aint got nothing on you (coz YOU woke up like this, Flawless) or it can take you to a place where love exists a la John Legend or it could inspire a change and become like a drug you can’t seem to let go of. It is a language spoken and understood by many but very few manage to intricately articulate the complexity of its artistic expression.
Genres are what separates this universally shared phenomenon and one man who has come to the music scene with a different and unusual genus of music is Thobe as he presents us with NeoSoul music. Dubbed “The Heartist”, Thobe has a sound that moves away from the hiphop-saturated music scene and brings in what he likes to call “The Art of Heart” which is reminiscent of soul classics with hints of Musiq, Slum Village and J Dilla influences and even makes you nostalgic for oldschool RnB by the likes of Jodeci and New Edition who showed us true RnB and soul music – minus the boxcuts, baggy jeans and unbuttoned silk shirts, lol!
For those of you hearing about Thobe for the first time, he is a Durban-born Neosoul artist/songwriter who has a voice that could put you to bed, if you know what I mean…lol! And you’re probably wondering “what is Neo-Soul”? Well, according to Thobe it is a sub-genre of hiphop as a whole. It is a link between hiphop and soul where people take old songs in hiphop and cut them up and use them to make a whole new beat. Thobe is an artist who has looked at songs sampled by hiphop producers and seen that there is more of a link between hiphop and soul than with any other genre. Join me, as I find out a little more about “The Heartist” Thobe…
MTL : So it’s been a while since we last spoke… How’s the music going and what have you worked on since JTV1 (Jazztappe Volume 1)?
T : Uhm, I’v become craftier, found ways to move a small untraceable drug in my music now, so I double up as a singer and a drug dealer *laughs*
*I raise my eyebrow and simultaneously side-eye him*
T : Lmao! That’s just me being stupid! *laughs again* . Aite, let me brak it down. I started work on Jazztape Volume 2 in October 2012. Dropped Pressure (which was Nice btw). Released JTV2 in August 2013 on the 8th or 9th…totally forgot, lol. After that I took a long hiatus, dropped a remix I did of Melo B Jones’ song called Show Me. At the beginning of the year (2014) I moved up to Joburg and I had a performance at Word N Sound as an opening act for Bongeziwe Mabandla. After that I had to push back my Sweet Nothings EP’s endlessly till I released SNEP pt 1 in June, on the 25th and SNEP pt 2 in August on the 22nd.
MTL : And I loooooooove Sweet Nothings EP! So out of all the stuff you’ve done so far, which have you enjoyed working on the most?
T : Uhm, Sweet Nothings pt 1 and the performance I Joburg ‘coz my girlfriend was in both situations… She came down to Durban with me to record. And she was at my performance. Sweet nothings pt 1 was done with her in studio actually.
MTL : Ncooooh! That’s sooooo cute! J So I’m guessing most of Sweet Nothing’s is about her???
T : Actually only 1 song was directly meant for her. Just 1. He rest was me just being me and Flexxing. As required. As per usual!
MTL : So you still do Neo-Soul or have you dabbled in another genre?
T : I’m very much still neo-soul… Just felt like I needed to do something fun. I mean, Sweet Nothings is practically the equivalent of walking around the house naked when nobody’s home you know, that’s the best analogy, lol. And besides that, I needed to prove a point t myself, that I could stretch my voice to somewhere else. And break out of the box I’d made for myself. Biggest Reason.
Oh, and the fact that I LOVED TGT’s” 3 Kingz” album and Justin Bieber’s “Journals” AND “Jeremih’s “Late Nights” mixtape… Good music inspires you. Always.
MTL : True!!
T : You must listen to jeremih. He just released a EP with Shlohmo called No More. It’s so perfect!
MTL : So Your music has kinda gone mainstream and you’ve always been about sticking to your own lane and rooting for the underdog…is the pioneering thing not working out? Your music even has elements of trap and didn’t you call out rappers for using trap to be “rappers”?
T : *chuckles* I’ve ALWAYS loved trap man. Always. There was never meant to be a Sweet Nothings EP actually. It just gradually happened. It was meant to a bridge between JTV2 and JTV3. And a song like “You Got it” took months to actually work. Refined it 300 times over. The main thing with Sweet Nothings was that I wanted to veer away from my own comfort zone. I’d settled within myself that I could reach certain notes and I was comfortable in neo-soul. So I thought, why not do something I’ve always been uncomfortable with, like sing over a trap beat… Or just touch my favourite beats up ‘coz contrary to popular belief I literally loved listening to beats for the songs individually
MTL : So you basically wanted to feel the beat I order to be able to sing over it?
T : My rule has always been don’t mess up a beat which sounds good on its own, but I did that. And I sang over them. Of course I couldn’t be a neo-soul singer in that aspect. And it was hilarious ‘coz Justin Bieber and TGT and Jeremih were on my playlist during that time. Intensely. So I could channel that. And if you listen closely, Some Kendrick and Beyonce.
There is a story that follows JTV1, JTV2, SNEP (1 & 2) and eventually JTV3’s chronological release. If you listen to the individual songs clearly you’ll pick up on it. In order from JTV 1 to SNEP
MTL : Aite, and does this story reach an end with JTV3 where you’ll tell a new story or will you continue with the same story?
T : JTV3 is where this story will end. Just in time for “Things We Can’t See”, my debut album which will be deep. Hella deep! Like drown in it type deep! *laughs*
(I do a random dance)
MTL : So what is your current project?
T : I’ve begun working on the Jazztape Volume 3 which is going to be produced by ME! So that’s awesome, ‘coz I get to up the ante again.
MTL : Singing AND producing? Nice!!! So when is JTV3 coming and when can we anticipate Things We Can’t See?
T : Lol, JTV3 could come out next year… Could… but late. Things We Can’t See is like…lol, a pipe dream right now. We only have the structure, still tryna fix up the body and make it good ‘coz it has to be potent. Like 99.5% real…! But JTV3 next year. 1st single could quite possibly be done near the end of this year also.
Yaaaay! There you go people! Hope you all enjoyed reading this and please take some time to check him out and listen to his music on http://www.soundcould/thobeofheart or follow him on twitter @thobeofheart to get updates on his music and for bookings you can contact crooner4031@gmail.com 🙂
Keep it 1 hunnid! From me,
Peace, Love and Pork ribs!
MTL
xoxoxo
tamieluv 