AFTER the release of Sandziso Matsebula's, album, Sands of Time in January, everyone was dancing to his hit song, Tigi. Sands, as he is popularly known, did not only take his country of birth, Swaziland, by storm, but Mzansi too. He did the unusual and released his whole album in SiSwati. Talking to Move!, the 27-year-old muso shares his journey in music.
BEING A HITMAKER
Born and bred in Swaziland, the Tigi hitmaker is riding the waves of success in Swaziland and South Africa. In less than six months of his album release, Sands is already among the who’s who in the music industry. With Tigi flying the flag for him, the musician has received a lot of recognition, which he says he never expected. “As a song writer, you wish your songs do well. However, Tigi did more than well, it took me by surprise. But spiritually, I was ready,” he says. He says he is grateful to be doing what he loves and appreciates the support he’s been getting, even though it is sometimes overwhelming. “Being a popular musician is great and uncomfortable at the same time. I’m still getting used to it. Living in the spotlight is inevitable, I can’t avoid it, but I am a private person,” he says.
MUSIC IS HIS FIRST LOVE
The Mbabane-based star says even though he just released his first album, he’s been doing music since 2008. “Music has always been my first love. However my parents wanted me to study because they didn’t understand why I wanted to do this whole music thing. To respect their wishes, I studied business communication at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Swaziland, but also studied music part-time at Yanza Music Foundation School,” says Sands.
PURSUING HIS DREAM
“After I graduated in 2014, I went to work at Unicef, but I resigned after three months because the job I was doing was not for me and I wanted to do music full-time. I had to work hard to convince my parents that I could make a living by doing music full time.” He adds, “Back then, I was only doing performances and wasn’t recording anything. People were always telling me that I should release an album. So I finally did just that and it is working out very well.” Sands says he is now working on doing more shows and building his brand. “Right now my music is out there and I’m trying to build my brand, so I’ve started touring. I’ve been to KwaZulu-Natal, the next stop is Mpumalanga then Joburg. I want to go to every city and reach everyone,” says the musician.