New kid on the block Thabsie made a life changing decision when she decided to quit her job and focus on her music career. A decision she does not regret. The singer, who is featured on celebrated Hip Hop artist Kwesta’s latest hit, Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe, dropped her own single and is set to release her debut album soon.
Thabsie, who was born in Cape Town, studied Economics at the University of Johannesburg. After graduating she worked as a banker but found herself consumed by music. “Like most people my love for music started in church, I was in the choir and loved it. As I grew up my love for music increased and I knew that I wanted to share my gift with others. While I was studying I was a back up vocalist for artists like Khuli Chana and Donald. When I graduated I went back to Cape Town to work,” she said.
However her love for music was so deep that she found herself quitting her job and returning to the city of gold to pursue her music career full time. “I enjoyed my job at the bank but I was so consumed by music that even my colleagues would always ask me why am I working in a bank and not making music. I didn’t want to just leave, I believe that timing is everything, so one day I just told my boss that I am leaving and the rest is history as they say. I didn’t even tell my family that I had left my job,” she said.
Fast forward to 2017 and the country was introduced to Thabsie when she teamed up with Kwesta. “We actually recorded that song two years ago. He was in studio and I was just chilling in the building and then he said that he needed a vocalist and he would like me to try it out. So I did, but I was very conscious when adding my voice to this song because it’s such a raw and real song. It all happened very organically and I honestly would have never thought that this song would be so huge and such a success,” Thabsie said. She said that since working with Kwesta, she feels the pressure to deliver great music is on. “You know once Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe happened and people started noticing me, I was like “oh snap this is real”. I haven’t felt overwhelmed but I do want to make amazing music and working with Kwesta was amazing because I learnt so much from him,” she said.
The young star recently released her first single off her upcoming album, Cry, which features Kid X. “Cry is a very personal song, in fact my album, which is called Songs About You, is very personal. I started writing some of the songs on it two years ago when I was going through a really bad breakup at the time so half of the songs reflect that. The other half reflect me being happy with the way my life is now and the moves I have made so far.”
Thabsie describes her music as new RnB and says it will be a breath of fresh air, “My sound is very different and I don’t think that anyone is doing what I am, I want to set myself apart from other artists and this year it’s always about introducing myself to music lovers,” she said.
Songs About You is set to be released in September.