TKZEE

A hugely successful South African kwaito act formed by three school friends, the name TKZee was an acronym of the members' first names, the late Tokollo Tshabalala, Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala. Their debut, a mini-album titled "Take it eezy", was released in 1996 and was considered to be musically ahead of its time. Hit singles "Palafala" and "Shibobo" followed, the latter featuring guest rapping by Bafana Bafana and Ajax Amsterdam striker Benni McCarthy and "quickly captured the imagination of a kwaito crazy and soccer mad country competing in its first ever Soccer World Cup" in 1998. In 1998 they released their first full album, Halloween, which became a huge hit with smash singles "Dlala Mapansula", "Mambotjie" & "We Love This Place". The album was certified Platinum by the Recording industry of South Africa (RISA), with sales over 200 000 copies and earned them 4 awards at South African Music Awards (SAMA) for Best Kwaito Album, Best Duo/Group, Best Single and Best Kwaito Single. In 1999 they produced Guz 2001, a compilation album by TKZee Family, consisting of the original TKZee members alongside other names on their record label TKzee Recordz (later Hola Records), including S'Bu, Gwyza, Loyiso, 2 shot, and Dr. Mageu sharing the musical stage with Kutlwano Masote and jazz genius Moses Taiwa Molelekwa. The group cleaned up at the 1999 SAMAs (South African Music Awards) and finally disbanded in 2001 after having released a compilation album featuring guest artists from their own TKZ Wrekords label. 2007 saw TKZee again make headlines, this time for being almost 2½ million rands behind in income tax payments. In 2009, they released their latest project "Coming Home". In 2022, the group has been hit by the passing of group member Tokollo "Magesh" Tshabalala, who suffered with epileptic seizures in recent years.