A Down to Earth King of Arts
“Music is therapeutic,” says the talented Tafadzwa Busani Nazare commonly known by many as Tafnaz. He considers himself a therapist for those who deal with emotional ills. As a singer, Taf believes he is not just an entertainer, he is an advocate for positivity and an emotional healer.
Coming from humble beginnings, he grew up in the second capital of Zimbabwe in a city called Bulawayo. He was brought up in the musically inclined seventh day Adventist church so harmony has always been a part of his life. Raised by a music-loving aunt and a plethora of Disney musicals like the lion king and many other known Disney Blockbusters, music was an active ingredient everywhere they went.
From Joe, Thomas filled road trips to Craig David and Usher Sunday, Boyz II Men, Dru Hill, *NSYNC, and the Pied piper of RnB R. Kelly. Of course, there were a lot of other artists they listened to but he remembers these ones vividly because they took up most of his sing-a-long memory space.
Tafnaz stated that he has been singing for as far as he can remember, however, he only took notice of this when he was in form one during his second term as a high school student in a boarding school when a friend turned rival challenged him to a sing-off. As the dorm gathered in his favour, they were astonished by his effortless performance. That was the day Tafnaz realized he actually has a gift.
He went from singing in the shower to singing with older gospel groups as expected of an Adventist boy. Acapella became his go-to music as he sang with bands. The warm feeling of vocal unity made him feel like this is where he belonged. This went on for a long period and brought with it, the age of evangelism. Together with his group, they would visit other churches and events to grace them with their music in a bid to spread the gospel through the art. Like all good things, this phase came to a halt when like every other teenager, his “voice broke”. Being unable to sing threw him into a momentary and this led him to the discovery of poetry and gave way to his Rapper phase, he went from a man of the gospel to a street poet with “Bars “.
All of this, opened up a whole new side to him because he grew up as a creative writer. Fast forward to his voice coming back in the 4th form, the RnB in him returned when Usher dropped the second “Confessions” album. Taf says that he used to wow the ladies, but annoy the gents, he couldn’t stop singing. He went from editing love letters to writing love songs.
In 2008, after high school, he was flown to Malaysia for university, and there amongst other creative people, he found music still waiting for him alongside brilliant musicians, namely Jonah Sithole and Philo. They formed a trio and dubbed “Beat Harmony” that went on to blow away all competition and it was their first-ever in Malaysia for them to win the famed inter-tertiary MTV world stage competition. In 2009, he became part of the Heal the World initiative which saw them perform in front of a crowd of well over 7000 people. As a student at Limkokwing University, they were tasked to form the first Sound and Music academy which brought about the musical revolution that has become the pride of the institution. After touring with the fashion shows and recording the first solo pieces they had to part ways.
To keep his passion alive he uses his other God-given talent which is photography. He runs a lucrative brand called Bornaking Photography and funny enough some of his clients don’t know about his musical career, the look on their faces is always the same when he reveals his other identity. It feels like he is Clark Kent. When it comes to his fans, he is still Taf… “I have never really considered myself to be a celebrity, I feel like our population is too small to try to live that kind of genre of music, he is willing and able to dabble across various types of music. During our chat with him, he told us that when it comes to collaborations, he wants to collaborate with everyone because making music isn’t about status, he views music as a culture, a tradition that must be shared. lifestyle,” he said. The same people you meet on stage are the same you’re within the church and at shopping malls. Besides, he is a servant to humility.
In terms of sound, he comes across as different because he is not loyal to any Tafadzwa says he wants to work with people and artists from all different wakes of the musical world. He writes all his music and in terms of genre, his primary sound is Afro, RNB with an acoustic soul fusion but has explored genres like Hip-hop, House, Electro, Afro Pop, and dancehall. He has written and performed a few ballads.
With access to the internet and YouTube, he has further developed from just an artist to an actual engineer. His fans are kept entertained online with an endless release of chart breaking singles and collaborations with amazing artists and producers. He will forever be grateful to his very supportive family who has never missed a single event nor radio/ TV performance and constantly urges him to push the passion.
Though his music is non-vulgar, he still has a parental advisory sticker on it because some of the lyrics are for a sensual adult audience, and it is made for radio. Concerning acknowledgments for his successes he indicated that it would be selfish of him to single out individuals because he says it takes a village to raise a child.
His journey as a musician is a mixed masala of influential passion farmers. His friends, both current and former have played major roles in whom and where he is today. If he could be open to working with any international artist it would be Frank Ocean because his music inspired part of his writing style.
We all know that there is always a misconception about popular people, some are labelled as arrogant, ill-mannered, and so on. Tafnaz motioned that his domineering nature, notorious wordplay, and flirtatious tendencies have often made people view him as “A playboy”. Little do they know that he is a serial lover, a passionate gentleman who still believes in chivalry and he mentioned how he has a loving fiancé who is his backbone and number one cheerleader.
In terms of feuds and conflict, the musical genius further said “I haven’t met a situation that has put me in a compromising position.” Being a man of positive principles keeps him out of the negative lanes of cultural society.
When addressing his collaboration with the clothing line, Maestro Empire Suits, he stated that he is their brand ambassador and they have a special creative bond that makes it easy for them to dress him in his own designs pieced together by Steven Tyler’s master tailors. They have believed in him from the get-go and they have pledged to keep his image at top tier level.
Taf went on to say that COVID 19 has really hit artists hard but it doesn’t mean the work stops. “It has given them a wakeup call that they need to have a side hustle as well because they can’t put all their eggs in one basket and that they can still make music via streaming sales, as the world has become one gigantic digital market place. Tafadzwa also indicated that many artists had to go back to the drawing board to recreate and redirect their approach in terms of marketing and that social distancing has made it difficult for them to enjoy the artist experience of entertaining large audiences so they have taken refuge in the digital world. His advice to fellow artists is that they should keep their heads up and that the darkest hour comes before dawn. They should not chase money but rather, they should push the passion and then money will follow.
Duncan Sebeso