With the sizzling release of Tehn Diamond's newest single - 'Simudza Gumbo', I thought it would only be right to get to know the 'diamond rapper' a little more though his personal music tastes!
1. A SONG YOU LOVE FROM YOUR FAVOURITE ALBUM OF ALL TIME
"Song Cry" - Jay-Z off of The Blueprint
I was 16 and madly in love when this song came out, but then again I was 16 so what did I know right ?. I do know that a week later I was heartbroken and felt like my whole world had ended. Back then, I used to equate everything happening in my life to a Jay-Z song. This was the only time I’d ever heard Jay-Z bleeding on a song for a chick, the first time he’d ever really let us into that part of his heart. I mean, even before my own break up I was blown away . . . but do believe once the hurts hit me personal, this cut was on ultra-repeat. I think back to that moment now and I laugh. I thought I’d never feel love again . . . There I was treating it accordingly, hoodie on, in the corner of my room, eyes red from not crying and Jay in the background talking about “. . . but I gotta make the Song Cry.”
2. THE SONG YOU LOVE TO PLAY LIVE
"Be Amazing" - TehN Diamond off of The Pursuit Of Amazing (#SOTG3)
I don’t think I’ve ever written a verse that better captures what it is I aspire to be. Not just in word, but in the way this one feels. It’s my centre. The mission statement and the mantra . . . So I open my sets up with this 9 times outta 10. Particularly when I really want the audience to know ME or if I’m headed up in front of an audience that’s got me feeling really nervous. I get my DJ to cue this one up, and as soon as them drums start . . . I’m transported to my zone. I’m reminded why I do any of this and reassured that I am worthy. This is my ultimate pick me up. And because I’m such a lyric driven artist, this is that track where I’ll perform it and keep an eye open for them fans who know all the lyrics to these kinda gems . . . then all through the show I know who’ve got that proper connection with. I’ll give them special treatment from start to finish off “Be Amazing” . . . it’s like roll call for my SUPER FAMS OF THE FAMBASE.
3. FIRST SINGLE I EVER BOUGHT AND LOVED
My Way - Usher
I really don’t remember what the first single I bought was . . . I do know that it had to have been off of this album right here. I must have been like 12 years old when I made my way to Spinalong and purchased this record. Lord knows I’d already dubbed and put together what I could from listening to radio . . . but the time had come to get the real deal and CDs were hot back then. I was so afraid to scratch my disc that I transferred the whole album to cassette anyway and would only listen to the actual CD when I got permission to use my old man’s hi-fi system with the big loud speakers. On those days I’d lock myself in the lounge and sing and dance till my feet and throat hurt. Needless to say, this was my album right here . . . I crossed over into puberty with tracks like “My Way” & “You Make Me Wanna” heavy on the brain. Good times.
4. THE MUSIC VIDEO YOU LOVE
"B.O.B" - Outkast
The colours. The energy. THE TRACK !!! It all comes together so perfectly in this one. It looks like exactly the kinda scenes within scenes within madness that would come out of the minds of Big Boi and Andre 3000. And it had everything . . . I feel like they just presented the track, got a massive budget opened up and they ran WILD with it. In my life i’m sure I’ve watched this video hundreds of times over the last 10+ years. And as time has gone on the questions that come to mind have changed . . . at first it was “Wow, how’d they get the grass that colour ?” and now all these years later it’s “How’d they get everyone to all just be on the same page like that ?” . . . especially later on in the video. I long for the day we can conceptualise and execute a video like this here in Zim. Just a full on madness that comes out looking like money.
5. THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO (AND LOVEED)
"Simudza Gumbo" - TehN Diamond ft. Dhadza D
I’m finally at the point where I’m imagining what future performances of this one are gonna look like. Playing it back and literally visualising what it’s gonna feel like on stage with this one. It took so long and so much to finally get it to the point that I was ready to let it out there, it feels good to sit with it and dream up a crazy future for it. The shows. The audiences. The band. The video. All the different places & stages I hope and pray to see . . . with this song. I’m proud of this one, it represents so much to me. A fresh direction for not just myself, but Zim Hip-Hop in general and my hopes for a nation of immense potential. It feels like music that matters, and I trip over myself when I realise that I’m a part of this.
''Simudza Gumbo" is an afrocentric take on the infamous JFK quote - "think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", via a Hip Hop lens.
Catch up with Tehn Diamond on twitter @tehndiamond
