Curiosity is the mother of invention.

Words by Alex Gwaze (Curator)
Questions by Alex Gwaze and Terry-Jo Thorne (Reseacher)

I’m going to just come out and say it – Hiphop is slowly losing its relevance because it has lost its inventiveness. There is so much sameness it’s hard to like one song for over a week because it’s lacking a certain kind of mystery to it. That unique playfulness that (through repeated listenings) is revealed to you like a reward for your genuine engagement. This missing link has prompted some established artists to say, ‘music is no longer an exclusive club of talented individuals, they are just letting everyone in’. I don’t know whether it’s a lack of wordplay or dope beats that’s the problem, but it’s true – Hiphop is no longer an exclusive club of cutting edge wordsmiths.

I was reflecting on the dullness of the ‘Hiphop echo chamber’ when I received a DM from Terrance Sibanda, aka T3rry Tempo. After the obligatory pleasantries he shared a link to his “Moments” EP. Being a visual person I was easily baited into listening by the graphics. Plus I was already familiar with Tempo’s music. T3rry Tempo is Bulawayo Arts awards and ZimHiphop awards nominee whose song “Heart No Love” spent 3 months on Skyzmetro FM top 20. And his “Been Focused” track spent an impressive 12 weeks at number 1 on Khulumani FM. So, beyond the visuals I was curious to see if the images matched the visuals. Upon my first listen I was struck by the care put into his project. It made me think what’s missing in this “Singles era” of Hiphop is the work ethic. The 10000 hours spent understanding what genres to mesh (how and why). The “why” is needed to actualize long standing value into that brand new intangible something you’ve just made. Some simple artists tend to rely on the hype of their ‘latest’ release or nostalgia baiting – meaning sequels or rebrands. This isn’t T3rry’s style.

Tempo is clearly displaying a curiosity for music and a willingness to invent new sounds. “Moments” sounds good because it sounds different and new, yet it also sounds like it took time to create. Time is really the critical ingredient that separates the followers from the leaders. It can’t be faked! You can tell when something is well crafted. That’s why I thought I would extend our DM into a longer conversation to get better understanding of how T3rry developed his craft.

AG: Firstly why did you choose the the name T3rry Tempo? Spelt that way.

TT: T3rry tempo is derived from my actual government name, Terrance Sibanda, and my high school nickname -Tempo. The spelling is in that way so as to make it stand out from other Terry’s cause there’s a lot of Terry’s and it makes mine stand out especially when people look me up.

AG: I’ve heard people refer to you as an AfroHiphop Artist? Are you an AfroHiphop act because I can hear a lot of Drill and Trap in your sound?

TT: Personally when it comes to picking a sound that defines me, I wouldn’t say I’m just an Afro or Hip hop artist. I like to see myself as diverse and versatile with different styles. I’m a musician at the core and I perform wherever I think my style can fit well and bring something new to the table. But I find a lot of expression through Hiphop. But I diversify it in my own way, if you know what I mean.

TJ: I get you. These days a lot of rappers are adding local languages or rapping entirely in vernacular to make their music different from Americans. You always rap entirely in English, why is that?

TT: That’s not 100% true. I wouldn’t say I always rap entirely in English cause I’m now dabbling with ‘vernac’, but not as like everyone else does. But in a way to still preserve the global relativity of my sound. There are moments (laughs) in the “Moments EP” when you will see, or hear what I mean by dabbling in local references.

TJ: You do have a more global sound compared to your peers. How involved are you in the production. Are you the producer?

TT: Ok so yes I’m a producer, but no I’m not yet able to walk on my own through an entire project or sound engineering etc. But do I craft the sound from what’s in my head, and when it comes out I already have the original and raw copy for it in mind. But I don’t put focus into making dope exciting sound effects or add libs, it’s just the way I would’ve constructed (imagined) it and thus the production part brings it to life. I know that some parts of what I make sounds better when it’s played through a loud PA system than a bluetooth speaker, or $3 earphones, but it’s still my story being told in the way I envisioned it. The sound should be crafted as good as the vision it’s attempting to inspire.

AG: You previously mentioned creating a ‘global’ sound and you’ve worked with American producer Jamie ‘Jamie Beats’, South African producer Lohtwich SA, and the UK’s Roxanne ‘Bgirl Roxy’ Milliner.

TT: That’s because I’m looking to connect with a global market at one go but it’s not easy. It’s small steps everyday that will add up to something big one day. Working with all these artists has showed me that it’s a small world we live in, this digital era. The global outreach I have is growing and the support is amazing. Recently Nadia Nakai recognised raw BYO content and a lot more huge brands all over the world are tapped in (laughs). For me, it’s Bulawayo stepping out into the world cause, back to my point from before about dabbling. For example, I add just enough vernac to “Makisa” to tick the local artist register and catch the passive ear. But if you want more airplay you have to translate your sound to the whole digital world. Honestly it’s hard to rely solely on the local market’s streams alone when you know data is expensive and you are competing with international machines like Drake or Taylor Swift for the algorithm’s attention (laughs).9

AG: Collaboration seems to be one of the tools you are using to go global. You’ve collaborated with Kafcash from Zambia, Young Face from Nigeria, and Ghana’s Sparkles. What do these African acts bring to your sound that you couldn’t do yourself?

TT: The acts that I usually collaborate with are either on the same ‘sound path’ or experiencing the same thing I’m experiencing. So we’re usually called into action and reach out to each other because it’s like we kindred spirits. It’s like if we come together (like Avengers) we can amplify that style we are creating or bring a different voice into that shared experience (laughs). But sometimes I just want to rub shoulders with a good artist and have fun learning something new (laughs). There are many different motivations to work together if you are open minded.

AG: Talking about kindred spirits. Hearing one of ZimHiphops pioneer’s, Tehn Diamond on “Doink” in “Moments”, was a moment (laughs). How did that come about, and what does Tehn’s generation (JNR Brown, Shinsoman, Ammara etc) mean to you?

TT: (laughs) Wow! Actually having Tehn as one of my colleagues is actually one of the craziest things that’s happened to me. I met him a long while back and we’ve only been talking. He’s really coached me through a lot. He’s good people, I’d like to call him a guide or mentor. He really motivated and put me on and I’ve been inspired by him, since the very moment I first heard his song at school. I just got inspired and I’m definitely gonna have him spit a verse soon.

TJ: You’ve also had support and guidance from SANZ fashion label. They dress and manage your PR and events, right?

TT: Fashion is a very important aspect of the arts industry. It is the way we present our selves to the world. Believe it or not, what you wear influences how people approach you, so having worked with SANZ brought about a lot of growth and development both in my craft and in my presentation. But we, well I have more plans still underway, expect future collaborations in the fashion and style world from Tempo.

TJ: You put a lot of work into the appearance of things. From the video intros, cassette aesthetic, thumbnails, fonts and posters. Where do you get your inspiration from?

TT: I portray my craft in the way I would’ve visualized it. I’m happy to be able to get access to the people, or the tools or the people with the tools (laughs) to be able to bring that vision to life. It’s a collaboration. So the branding is a very important aspect of the artists perception and I feel most artists and brands should look into it more.

AG: You mentioned branding and perceptions. Lastly, rappers seem to be obsessed with filling up their videos with as many young women as affordable? How you feel about this as the image of your work?

TT: Affordable (laughs) You know, I’ve experienced video shoots with tons of women but I’m a very focused individual, and as much as I might entertain that sort of company I am very reserved. An introvert you might say. But I’m not really anyone’s someone at this time of my life. But I was, for a very long time (4 years). That ended weirdly because feelings get caught from people’s perceptions and people got hurt. There is more than one side to Hiphop but that ladies man image plays into the ideals of many young boy’s fantasies of what success looks like. Like I said before, I have my own vision of how my sound should be, that’s what I’m chasing.

Follow T3rry Tempo at: @T3rryTempo_Zw
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