Tee Ty

Tee Ty (born Temwani Mkandawire) is a musical artist whose distinctive musical style, which some may describe as genius, is the product of his multi – cultural up bring influenced by his diverse roots in the continent of Africa and the years he lived in Denver Colorado.  His refreshing take on music can be traced back to his adamant belief in finding and fulfilling his God given purpose. Furthermore Tee Ty’s view on embracing his journey to success is founded in his perspective on challenges and wins as a process of personal and artistic evolution. Born in Kitwe, Zambia to a Malawian father and South African mother he developed an inherently unique identity that embraced diversity and created in him a burning desire to express his creativity through music and visual art, which then gave birth to the distinctive musical artist, we know today as Tee Ty. In the early 90’s he encountered Hip Hop for the first time with the song ‘Jam On It’, by the group Newcleus and fell in love with the lyrical potency and musicality of Hip Hop. From that day Hip Hop is his first love. At the age of 13, after his father’s death Tee Ty moved to Sunnyside in Pretoria the capital of South Africa and upon his arrival found himself once again a foreigner in a country, which he has, deep routes. Undeterred by the total shift in his life he became the Co – founder of arguably South Africa’s largest and most culturally diverse Hip Hop crew called ‘The SmartBoyz’ born in the Capital city of Pretoria. Since 2006 He and his crew made waives not only in music but also in fashion as they birthed the brand BambataSa – Petrol or Milk of which now is one of Africa’s most popular urban wear brands. Between 2010-2011 SmartBoyz released twomixtapes, ‘The takeover volume I & II’ which became very popular and their songs became somewhat of an anthem amongst the South African youth of Pretoria. With the success of the mixtapes as fuel, he decided to dive into unchartered waters and recorded his first solo projects, including ‘Riddin to the beat’ music video which he shot and edited himself under the ‘Above the law’ mixtape(Recorded in 2012). This was the defining moment of his career, of which titled Tee Ty as Africa’s conscious Hip Hop love child, whose lyrical fluidity and relatability is unmatched. ” It’s his flow and realness on the beat; you can hear and understand his every word” discribed a Yfm radio Dj. In 2013 Tee Ty recorded a 5 track mixtape called ‘Church Outside’ which was released online to the public for 2 weeks then later removed by his management for later release his career-altering single, ‘My Enemies’ of which he displayed both his skills in musical art and videography with the follow up music video, of which he shot and directed himself. This resulted in a peace of work which is clearly world class. Only to be followed by a short film ‘The Phone’ that he wrote and directed and was then screened in South Africa’s largest cinema chain, sterkinekor. After spending many months in the studio and becoming co-founder and signed artist in ‘Platinum Artist Management’ in partnership with the iconic producer Toni Hills, Tee Ty’ s lyrics in his next project, touch on everything from his upbringing in Zambia and South Africa, to the poverty and hopelessness that affect his community. The album encapsulates not just who Tee Ty is as a rapper, but who he is as an artist and a person. Heavily influenced by his favourite artists a love for powerful storytelling with an intense inner-strength, Tee Ty is advanced in writing his own lyrics, and amassing stacks of notebooks filled with rhymes and observations. Tee Ty and his team are gearing up to continue greatly influencing the music industry with his masterpieces in 2016