Tsakani Mhinga
Encyclopedia
Tsakani "TK" Mhinga was a SAMA
award-winning South African R&B and kwaito
artist
who went by the stage name of TK. She was a princess
of the VaTsonga tribe
of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, as well as the niece of veteran South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka
.
Her singing style was sometimes compared to that of Mariah Carey
, and her voluptuous looks and charismatic stage presence reminded some of Beyoncé Knowles
.
She was found dead in a Bryanston
, Johannesburg
hotel room by hotel staff on 27 February 2006, of what seemed to be either a drug overdose
or a drug-induced suicide
.
, Johannesburg
. At age 12 she first sang in public, singing Over the Rainbow
, at a talent competition.
Though her first name “Tsakani” means “to be happy”, the singer’s life was often less so. Mhinga’s relationships with men seemed to have been disappointing, starting with her father, whom she described as being “more like a visitor to our home” with her mother raising her and her three siblings mostly alone.
.
Since her father was opposed to her being a singer, she launched her solo musical career without telling her family, with her debut album, TKO, in 2000.
This was followed in 2001 by a second album, Tsakani, that included the club hit Eject yo’ ass.
In 2002, TK performed with international act Foxy Brown at the Gauteng R&B Hip Hop Festival and opened for Keith Sweat
and Deborah Cox
on their South African concerts. TK was also a participant in Celebrity Big Brother UK during this year.
Her third and last album, Black Butterfly (2003) was considered her best. TK’s vocals on the title track (which was written and recorded in only one day) have been compared to that of Mariah Carey
. It also includes a poignant rendition of Over the Rainbow, of which TK professed a certain fondness. In celebration of this album, TK’s record company suggested she have a butterfly
tattooed onto her left arm. After having them phone her mother for permission first, she happily consented.
Despite being a celebrated artist, none of TK’s albums sold more than 25 000 copies, though she still hoped to reach a worldwide audience
, by infusing her style of Rhythm & Blues with an indigenous African flavour.
. The second turned out to be disappointing, when she was offered a seven-record deal with UK based label Polydor shortly after the release of her first album. This deal was quickly revoked after threats from the local producers of the album.
Black Butterfly is a good example of her fusion
of styles, with tracks ranging from upbeat hip-hop
to sultry R&B ballads with some kwaito
remixes thrown in.
TK had a considerable following under the South African gay community
, based on her sassy vocals, cheeky lyrics and the grinding beats of her tracks. When asked which woman she would hypothetically pursue a relationship with if she were gay
and given a choice, she replied that it would probably be Alyssa Milano
for her beauty and seemingly fun personality.
She had one child, her son Oratile, and raised him as a single parent
. She refused to reveal the identity
of her son’s father, who left her before the birth, saying that only the baby needs to know who his father is. TK’s single Mind yo’ business off her debut album speaks of the realities of life where a Prince Charming
does not exist.
Her last relationship ended sometime around Valentine’s Day, two weeks before her death, after which she subsequently moved into a hotel in Bryanston
, while looking for a new home.
star Mandoza
, at the hotel where she was staying. The gathering subsequently turned into a late-night party in her hotel room.
At around 10:00 on Monday February 27 she spoke on the phone with her manager, and at around 11:00 a friend dropped by, wanting to take her to lunch. She declined, saying she was going to take a bath.
Mhinga was found dead at approximately 13:30 by hotel staff, after she failed to answer their calls.
Speculation that someone else was in the room with her is derived from the fact that her partially dressed body was found covered with a sheet.
Police have stated though, that her body did not have any marks on it, and that there was no sign of forced entry into her room.
The most common assumption is that the cause of death
was either a drug overdose
or a drug-induced suicide
.
Mhinga was working on her fourth album at the time of her death. EMI
records plans to release a compilation of her work. A trust has also been established for her young son.
Local newspapers were quick to make comparisons between Tsakani Mhinga’s death and that of other 27-year-old musicians, such as Jim Morrison
, Jimi Hendrix
, Janis Joplin
and Kurt Cobain
.
(the SA equivalent of the Grammy) for “Best R&B album”, one for each of her albums. She was also nominated for two MTN MetroFM music awards, for “Best R&B Artist” and “Best Female Artist” respectively.
South African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...
award-winning South African R&B and kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who went by the stage name of TK. She was a princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
of the VaTsonga tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, as well as the niece of veteran South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a South African singer.Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 20 years...
.
Her singing style was sometimes compared to that of Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, and her voluptuous looks and charismatic stage presence reminded some of Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
.
She was found dead in a Bryanston
Bryanston
Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour one mile west of Blandford Forum. The parish has a population of 968 . The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an independent school.The village was named after Brian de Lisle, a...
, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
hotel room by hotel staff on 27 February 2006, of what seemed to be either a drug overdose
Drug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
or a drug-induced suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Early life
Mhinga was the eldest child of Chief Shilungwa and Tebogo Mhinga of the VaTsonga tribe of the Limpopo province, growing up in SowetoSoweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. At age 12 she first sang in public, singing Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
, at a talent competition.
Though her first name “Tsakani” means “to be happy”, the singer’s life was often less so. Mhinga’s relationships with men seemed to have been disappointing, starting with her father, whom she described as being “more like a visitor to our home” with her mother raising her and her three siblings mostly alone.
Career
Her first taste of the music industry came from her electric, chemistry driven collaborations with rapper MizchifMizchif
Hechichamunorwa Mount zion Kwenda , better known as Mizchif, is a South African based Zimbabwean rapper.Mizchif was born and raised in Highfields, Harare, Zimbabwe. He moved to Syracuse, New York at the age of 12 where he hooked up with a crew, Soul Pack, and began rapping...
.
Since her father was opposed to her being a singer, she launched her solo musical career without telling her family, with her debut album, TKO, in 2000.
This was followed in 2001 by a second album, Tsakani, that included the club hit Eject yo’ ass.
In 2002, TK performed with international act Foxy Brown at the Gauteng R&B Hip Hop Festival and opened for Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
and Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart , a record held for nearly eight years. She has achieved ten number-one hits on...
on their South African concerts. TK was also a participant in Celebrity Big Brother UK during this year.
Her third and last album, Black Butterfly (2003) was considered her best. TK’s vocals on the title track (which was written and recorded in only one day) have been compared to that of Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
. It also includes a poignant rendition of Over the Rainbow, of which TK professed a certain fondness. In celebration of this album, TK’s record company suggested she have a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
tattooed onto her left arm. After having them phone her mother for permission first, she happily consented.
Despite being a celebrated artist, none of TK’s albums sold more than 25 000 copies, though she still hoped to reach a worldwide audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
, by infusing her style of Rhythm & Blues with an indigenous African flavour.
Legal & Contractual Battles
During her short career, TK had some considerable legal wrangles, the first; surrounding her stage name "TK", with that of similar sounding Kwaito group TKZTKZee
TKZee is a South Africa kwaito music group formed by three school friends, Tokollo Tshabalala, Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala. The group shot to prominence in late 1997 and early 1998 with their hit singles Palafala and Shibobo....
. The second turned out to be disappointing, when she was offered a seven-record deal with UK based label Polydor shortly after the release of her first album. This deal was quickly revoked after threats from the local producers of the album.
Musical style
In the inlay of TKO, Mhinga wrote “I am holding my breath whilst writing my thank yous”. This she explained as fears of the reception of her musical style, for which she was often criticized and ridiculed.Black Butterfly is a good example of her fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of styles, with tracks ranging from upbeat hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
to sultry R&B ballads with some kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
remixes thrown in.
TK had a considerable following under the South African gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
, based on her sassy vocals, cheeky lyrics and the grinding beats of her tracks. When asked which woman she would hypothetically pursue a relationship with if she were gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and given a choice, she replied that it would probably be Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...
for her beauty and seemingly fun personality.
Personal life
In 2002, she caused minor tremors posing nude for local women’s magazine Pace, while pregnant.She had one child, her son Oratile, and raised him as a single parent
Single parent
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
. She refused to reveal the identity
Personally identifiable information
Personally Identifiable Information , as used in information security, is information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual...
of her son’s father, who left her before the birth, saying that only the baby needs to know who his father is. TK’s single Mind yo’ business off her debut album speaks of the realities of life where a Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
does not exist.
Her last relationship ended sometime around Valentine’s Day, two weeks before her death, after which she subsequently moved into a hotel in Bryanston
Bryanston
Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour one mile west of Blandford Forum. The parish has a population of 968 . The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an independent school.The village was named after Brian de Lisle, a...
, while looking for a new home.
Death
On the day before her death, Sunday 26 February 2006, she apparently she was entertaining a few friends, including kwaitoKwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
star Mandoza
Mandoza
Mduduzi Tshabalala , well known as Mandoza, is a South African kwaito musician.- Early life :Mandoza was born in the Zola South section of Soweto, where he shared a house with his mother, his grandparents and two sisters. He never knew his father, his mother claiming that he was murdered the same...
, at the hotel where she was staying. The gathering subsequently turned into a late-night party in her hotel room.
At around 10:00 on Monday February 27 she spoke on the phone with her manager, and at around 11:00 a friend dropped by, wanting to take her to lunch. She declined, saying she was going to take a bath.
Mhinga was found dead at approximately 13:30 by hotel staff, after she failed to answer their calls.
Speculation that someone else was in the room with her is derived from the fact that her partially dressed body was found covered with a sheet.
Police have stated though, that her body did not have any marks on it, and that there was no sign of forced entry into her room.
The most common assumption is that the cause of death
Cause of Death
Cause of Death is a 1990 album by American death metal band Obituary. Cause of Death is considered a classic album in the history of death metal. The artwork was done by artist Michael Whelan...
was either a drug overdose
Drug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
or a drug-induced suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Mhinga was working on her fourth album at the time of her death. EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
records plans to release a compilation of her work. A trust has also been established for her young son.
Local newspapers were quick to make comparisons between Tsakani Mhinga’s death and that of other 27-year-old musicians, such as Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
and Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
.
Awards
TK received three South African Music AwardsSouth African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...
(the SA equivalent of the Grammy) for “Best R&B album”, one for each of her albums. She was also nominated for two MTN MetroFM music awards, for “Best R&B Artist” and “Best Female Artist” respectively.