Kabelo Mabalane unpacks TKZEE legacy, lessons and blessings
RARELY do music groups sustain a high level of reverence among fans through successive generations.
But somehow, legendary kwaito group TKZEE have managed to do so while outlasting many of their peers and establishing themselves as arguably the gold standard from a rich musical crop that included the likes of Trompies, Mandoza and Zola.
It’s been a few weeks since the untimely passing of one of the group’s stars, Tokollo “Magesh” Tshabalala, but the demand for them is still as high as ever.
“To our surprise, according to management, the phone is still ringing off the hook with people wanting us to come perform,” says Kabelo Mabalane.
“Clearly the public are saying, ‘well guys, you’ve lost Magesh, sort yourselves out, we still want the music’. We have to take our cues from the demand and see how that’s gonna work,” he says.
Mabalane is talking to me via Zoom from his car as he awaits his turn for a soundcheck at Red Bull’s Shay’ imoto motorsport spinning competition. Not only will he be a judge at the event, but he’ll also be hopping on stage for a performance, he says.
On Heritage Day, Mabalane will be one of the main acts at the Dstv Delicious International Food and Music Festival at Joburg’s Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, which he’s looking forward to.
“I’ve got a seven-piece band with a three-horns section,” he says. “Horns have always been my vibe so it’s going to be a good one. We’ve been rehearsing and what’s cool is all these other gigs I’m doing prior to that is just a warm-up for Delicious, so I’m quite excited.
“I just pray for good weather and to be playing at a good time,” he says.
After all these years, the nerves aren’t always there anymore. Instead, there’s a quiet confidence about him.
“My pastor always says when he started preaching he used to have butterflies in his stomach. But then he says over the years they now fly in formation. It’s not chaotic, they’re in formation.
“So I think a good dose of being nervous and fear, all that means is you really want to put your best foot forward and give the fans a good experience,” Mabalane says.
Being able to perform after all these years is a blessing he doesn’t take for granted. Instead, he revels in the opportunity of inspiring the next generation.
He adds: “I think of your Bra Hughs and those guys. We’re slowly heading into that territory and I think
it’s important for us to be still standing because it’s also not about being famous and performing anymore at this stage for me, it’s about creating context.
“I remember in our early days in the mid to late ’90s taking over the baton, as it were, from your Brenda Fassies and your Chicos, being at the same festival as Fassie was absolutely
mind-blowing, to say the least.
“You grow up listening to this person and now she’s in the trailer next to you, she knows who you are, she’s a big fan and she can sing some of your songs.
“As a music lover, when you’re there with those people it gives you so much context of who you are, where you’re from, what you’re about and I
also hope that it helps you cast a vision as to where you want to go,” he says.
Mabalane has realised that he and some of his peers being around assists those young artists to appreciate who they are: “You need to understand you’re not in a vacuum doing this thing by yourself, you come from somewhere.”
Looking back at his journey here, Mabalane recalls how after leaving high school and going overseas for a short-term exchange programme, he naturally found himself drawn toward pursuing a career in music with his friends Magesh and Zwai Bala.
After dubbing themselves TKZEE, they released a project together that failed dismally. He recalls how that was a reality check that helped him realise they had to get it together.
“We were jolted into reality when that first album flopped,” he says. “But we always knew we were better than the cats in that era. We knew we had some X-factor. So we realised we know we’re better, so let’s do better,” he says.
They then started studying the music business and trying to figure out how to crack the code. They made sure to be on the scene, in the clubs and to stay abreast of the culture at the time.
“Once we got it, we knew that, ‘ah man we’ve got it, there’s no way these guys are touching us now’,” Mabalane says.
And they really did become untouchable as they embarked on a scorching run that saw them release their breakthrough single Palafala, the anthemic Shibobo and their classic album Halloween, all within a year.
I ask him what it was about them that he felt gave them that edge over everyone.
“The variety,” he says, smiling. “I mean, jeepers. Three private school boys who grew up ko Kasi (in the townships).
“You’ve got a classically trained musician, there’s me who’s been influenced by hip hop to the core, then factor in Magesh, who just had this natural street cred and everything he did came from the heart. That combination is deadly,” he says.
Nowadays, apart from his career, Mabalane spends a lot of his time raising his young family. One of the teachings he says he’s trying to impress on his kids is for them to know that they can be the best in the world at anything.
“I’m 45, and only up until two years ago my mom told me in hindsight, ‘If I had a do-over, when I saw you go for this music thing when you were young, I wish I told you to go for it with everything that you’ve got and not second guess’.
“And I guess our responsibility in our generation, because we’ve got a perspective our parents didn’t have, we are able to see and understand that your kid can be a Formula 1, a great lawyer or a musician and still make a serious living.
“I tell my son he’s the fastest man on the planet. If that’s what he wants to do then we’re going to go for it, we’re going to go for Usain Bolt’s record. That’s how I kind of want to parent.
“And then obviously help them understand that there’s work ethic that comes with that,” he says.