Tumi Molekane (born 16 August 1981) is a
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
n-born
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
and
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
. He was the
lead vocalist
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
of
Tumi and the Volume, that was officially disbanded in 2012. In 2016 Tumi relaunched himself as Stogie T and released an eponymous album titled '' 'Stogie T' '' which featured
Da L.E.S, Lastee,
Emtee
Mthembeni Ndevu, better known by his stage name Emtee (stylized as eMTee) is a South African rapper. He was born in Matatiele and grew up in Rockville, Soweto, where he was involved in talent shows. His career began at the age of 17 and his deb ...
,
Nasty C
Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo (born 11 February 1997), known professionally as Nasty C, is a South African rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
After releasing three mixtapes, one being "Undisputed" and two EPs, Ngcobo released his debu ...
,
Nadia Nakai
Nadia Nakai Kandava (née Dlamini; born 18 May 1990), is a South African-born Zimbabwean rapper and television personality.
Early life and education
Nakai was born in South Africa. Her father is South African and her mother is Zimbabwean. Wh ...
& Yanga. He has 2 singles from the album. The first single "Diamond Walk" features rapper Nadia Nakai in the video. His second single from the album ''By Any Means'' which features a hook and verses from Emtee and Yanga.
Background
Tumi and the Volume also comprises the members of the
Mozambican band
340ml.
Molekane was born in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
while his South African parents lived in exile there. In 1992 he repatriated to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and took up residence in
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
.
Music career
In 2005, Tumi recorded the song "Trade Winds" with
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
-based rapper
Main Flow
MOOD is a hip hop group based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, composed of rappers Main Flow, Donte, and record producer Jahson. Originally formed under the name of Three Below Zero, they wound up changing their name to Mood in 1994. They fi ...
. In 2006 he published his debut album, ''
Music from My Good Eye
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
'', through his
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
, Motif Records.
The album was later listed as one of the greatest South African albums of all time.
In 2006, he was published in the American
literary journal
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...
''The Subterranean Quarterly''.
Tumi was also involved in the
Dead Prez
Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, sel ...
show around late in 2000 and also took part in the Black August tour to South Africa in 2001.
He has also performed with South African recording artists
Blk Sonshine
Blk Sonshine is a jazz duo featuring Malawian-born Masauko Chipembere and the South African Neo Muyanga.
The group was formed when Chipembere, who had been raised in the United States, traveled to South Africa to explore its jazz traditions, uniti ...
,
Keorapetse Kgositsile
Keorapetse William Kgositsile (19 September 1938 – 3 January 2018), also known by his pen name Bra Willie, was a South African Tswana poet, journalist and political activist. An influential member of the African National Congress in the 196 ...
,
Watkin Tudor Jones
Watkin Tudor Jones (born 26 September 1974), better known by his stage names Ninja and Max Normal, is a South African rapper, songwriter, record producer, performance artist, and director. Jones found international success as a member of Die An ...
,
Lesego Rampolokeng
Lesego Rampolokeng (born 7 July 1965) is a South African writer, playwright and performance poet.
Early life and education
Lesego Rampolokeng was born in 1965 in Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg. He studied law at the University of the North ...
. Saul Williams, Sarah Jones and
Mutabaruka
Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...
. He has also worked alongside
Chinese Man
Chinese Man is a French trip hop band formed in 2004 and originally from Aix-en-Provence.
History
They are influenced by hip-hop, funk, dub, reggae and jazz.
Chinese Man is composed of DJ Marseille Zé Mateo and High Ku and beatmaker SLY. Beatm ...
, a French Hip-Hop crew, producing the album ''The Journey'' together in 2015.
In his book ''Stealing Empire: P2P, Intellectual Property and Hip-hop Subversion'' (2008), Professor Adam Haupt of the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
analyzed the lyrics Molekane wrote for the Tumi and the Volume song "76", as well as others. Among Haupt's arguments are that contemporary hip hop music provides critical insights into the inheritance of violence in post-
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa.
He contends that, despite commercial and often sexist imperatives in mainstream hip hop music, South Africa has produced a number of socially conscious hip hop artists, who are reluctant to compromise their art and political views. In 2016, he was featured on Ghanaian rapper M.anifest's album ''Nowhere Cool''.
In 2018 Stogie released ''Honey and Pain'', which is the follow up to his eponymous 2016 album. On 8 October 2021, he signed a record deal with
Def Jam Africa
Def Jam Recordings Africa (marketed as Def Jam Africa), is the African division of the international record label Def Jam Recordings. The label is owned by Universal Music Africa, a flagship of Universal Music Group. Founded in 2020, and operatin ...
, and was confirmed by
Def Jam Africa
Def Jam Recordings Africa (marketed as Def Jam Africa), is the African division of the international record label Def Jam Recordings. The label is owned by Universal Music Africa, a flagship of Universal Music Group. Founded in 2020, and operatin ...
on 12 January 2022.
In 2022, Tumi performed at a
World Intellectual Property Day event at the headquarters of the
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, 15 specialized agencies of the United Nation ...
in Geneva, Switzerland. In an interview with WIPO Magazine, Tumi said "I tell every 18-year old who wants to rap that if they spend just one hour understanding what music publishing is, what IP is, what royalties are, and what their rights are, they will do more for their music than the three hours they spend on YouTube figuring out how to mix a new drum pattern. The entry barrier to music is virtually nonexistent now because of technology. That makes musicians vulnerable and means they need to be IP savvy."
In sharing his views on how musicians can monetize their work, he said "streaming is like a business card; it's a way to get people familiar with your music while you take advantage of other channels to make money."
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Molekane, Tumi
1981 births
Living people
South African rappers
Tanzanian poets
Tanzanian rappers
21st-century Tanzanian male singers