Rising artist and award-winning content creator Tadéus Mbatha has released his debut self-titled EP, which explores personal growth, love, anxiety and happiness.
The six-track offering has been in the making for six years and offers listeners a profoundly personal and emotive experience with themes of love, mental health, self-discovery and the pursuit of happiness.
“Music has always been something that I wanted to do. As a young kid, I would perform in my room. My closet would be my audience and my deodorant would be my mic.
“I’d imagine myself being on stage. I still do it even now, because that’s how wild my imagination is. It’s always been a journey that I wanted to embark on and I felt like now is the right time,” said Mbatha.
Mbatha is a well-known content creator, who pops up regularly on our feeds with his acting and skit content. He also won at the 2023 DStv Content Creator Awards.
Speaking about his newly released EP, Mbatha said
“I’ve been writing a lot of the songs since I was a teenager, so when I decided to take the step and actually record it, everything came together and it was just a 360 moment. It all came together like it was meant to be.
“The change from content creation to being a recording artist was nerve-racking.
“I wasn’t sure how people would receive it. I know a lot of people are sceptical about change, but so far the reception has been great and I am much calmer now. I’m enjoying and taking it in as it goes.”
While each song on the EP is special to Mbatha, he said his favourite was the single, “Happy”.
“The back story of it is so innocent. I made it for the kids because I have a lot of nieces and nephews and every time they come to my home they want to fiddle with my things. They are so intrigued and ask questions.
“They have told me that they want to be like me when they grow up, so for a kid to tell you that, it’s such a beautiful thing to hear.
“Kids always come from this innocent place, they are unfiltered, so when a kid tells you that, it’s an affirmation that you doing the right thing.”
He added that the song is also meant to bring about awareness to adults to always try and “live in the moment” despite every thing happening around them.
“We should constantly tap into our inner child and just be joyful and never lose that element about ourselves.”
The rising artist’s biggest influence came from his parents and some of South Africa’s music legends, such as Brenda Fassie, Lebo Mathosa, Mi Casa and Samthing Soweto.
“Music brings me so much joy. My father is one of my biggest influences when it comes to the types of music that I listen to and the types of sounds that I appreciate.
“My mother use to be a songwriter and my grandmother was a great singer, so from both sides of the family there has always been a musical influence. It makes sense why this journey was one for me,” he shared.
Growing up he was exposed to a lot of jazz, salsa and R&B, and this influenced the single, “Meu Amor”, on the EP.
In the song, Mbatha experiments with singing in Portuguese over a backdrop of R&B-infused salsa rhythms.
“When I heard that salsa element of it, I said let me add the Portuguese and use this track as an appreciation of my musical influencer, my father.”
As for whether he will be venturing into other genres, he said: “The plan is to take it slow, do what I know and see how it goes. There is no limitations when it comes to music. It’s about exploring.
“All genres have a background, so if you are tapping into something that is different, it’s important to educate yourself so that when you do produce something that comes from that specific genre, you produce it as accurately as possible and that it also meets your tastes.”
Mbatha’s EP is set to take the local landscape by storm with its fresh approach to musicality.
“Tadéus” is available on all major music streaming platforms.