According to TK, most people are motivated by one of two things: the desire for material success or their heart. If you’ve seen her performing anywhere in the city, you might be convinced that TK’s lived her whole life driven by her heart. How could she not be? When you see her singing she looks as if she’s been doing it from the day she learned how to walk. That singing is simply what she does, just like how some people cook, others draw, and a few even play sports. Speaking to her recently though, I found out a different story. Meeting at An An Smoothies in Thảo Điền on a late Friday afternoon, she talked me through her story. A story of how she discovered to follow her heart once more. A story that takes us all the way back to her childhood in South Africa.
Born in Johannesburg, singing was part of TK’s life from an early age. Growing up with her grandmother who ran a church, she started singing Gospel music in Zulu at the age of nine. She took an immediate liking to singing, though I suppose at that age, you never really understand why you like certain things and dislike others. Again, it goes back to the heart, and it was her heart that led her to pursue singing in her primary school choir. What started off as a 30-person choir shrunk to six when in the 7th grade she was chosen to be part of an all-girls sextet. Singing in English, they competed in a variety of competitions and even finished 2nd in a national tournament. While she continued singing into her first year of highschool, this is when her heart started asking questions. First with a sudden and deep love of volleyball and afterwards with a need to focus on her studies as she prepared for university.
Can a person’s life ever be so succinctly summarised in a series of chapters as do writers in books? If I were to attempt so with TK, her move to the University of Johannesburg in 2010 could be seen as the start of a new chapter. While her love of singing and volleyball continued, she decided to study a double major of Tourism Development and Historical Studies given her fascination with cities, culture, and a desire to see the world. Though she was a part of the University of Johannesburg’s Song & Dance Company during her freshman year, for the first time ever, her life’s trajectory was pulling her away from what she’d loved the most as a child.
Fast forward to graduation, she’d begun working as a sales agent in property development, owing to a desire to have a job that wouldn’t have her sitting in an office from 9 to 5. This period from being a university student to a working adult is transformative for most, with a number of changes affecting an individual’s life. For one, you’ve got more responsibilities, whether it be inside your job or outside, and these force you to think of your future and your choices. Another change is the amount of money you’re making. Even if you’ve grown up relatively well-off, the sudden stream of monthly income payments can become quite addictive, and money begins to hold much more weight over your life than most other things. Like we all do, TK experienced this to some level. A five-year stretch lasting from 2013 to 2018 saw her go from a sales agent, to retail curator, to sales and marketing, and then back to being a real estate agent. She was good at her job and had a relative amount of freedom, but every now and again she couldn’t help but wonder if this was all there was.
“We chasing the money and losing our souls.
We chasing the money and losing our streets.
We chasing the money and losing our streets.
Chasing the money and losing our souls.”
- "Imali", TK
Travelling turned into something of an obsession, with her first trip out of South Africa coming in 2013 when she travelled to Tanzania with her friend. From there, Mozambique, Swaziland, and every province in South Africa except for Kimberley. In 2016 came her first trip to Southeast Asia where she hit Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. She fell in love with Saigon as many do, feeling that the vibrancy and organised chaos of the city was what she wanted Johannesburg to be like. A year later, she flew to Europe, going from Germany, Netherlands, France, and Belgium in the span of 25 days. While life, at that point, only seemed to be on an upwards trajectory, nothing is ever as simple as that. In 2018, the company she’d been working for was liquidated. Thanks to the reputation she’d built, it wasn’t hard for TK to find work but the freedom she’d enjoyed at her previous job was no longer there. Knowing how much she valued that, it became impossible to give up. Deciding to work for herself with the client list she’d amassed, TK spent a year doing so but it was then her heart started tugging once more. Perhaps she needed a change.
In February 2020, TK moved to Vietnam. She started working at an English center and though she had to deal with the nightmare of Covid lockdowns shortly upon arrival, she managed to emerge unscathed. With the city open, she went out in the evenings to bars and live music venues where she often saw others perform. Her heart called. Deep from within, echoing through her past: singing at church, singing as part of a sextet, singing in university. It was then, she realised, how people are motivated by two things. As a child she’d been motivated by her heart, but once she grew older she felt she had to be motivated by material accomplishments—To survive in this world we all have to be, to some extent. While it’d be silly to claim one is better than the other, the reality is that oftentimes we get sucked into the race for more money, more outward success, disregarding that pure, playful joy we have when engaged in something we love. In some ways, moving to Saigon was a wake up call for TK. She dove straight in.
Since her first paid gig at Luu Bar in late 2021, TK’s sang all around the city. Her favourite gigs so far have been at Nha Go Coffee in District 12, as she sang to an audience of around 200, as well as Vesper in District 1, where she says she loves the ambience. Besides those, she used to work a Tuesday night slot at Acoustic Bar in District 3, did a show on a boat tour around El Nido in the Philippines, and, nowadays, runs a monthly karaoke night at Boosh in District 1. When you see her perform, expect a blend of pop and afro soul. Her favourite musicians range from icons like Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Tina Turner, all the way to South African legends such as Amanda Black, Brenda Fassiee, and Zoe Modiga. She’s written five originals since she started writing and recording originals in 2022, and has even released a few tracks like Come To Me on Spotify. What makes her writing unique is the blend of languages in her lyrics, with songs being written in either English, Zulu, or Sepedi. Take Imali, which means money in Zulu. TK wrote this song with a blend of English and Zulu, giving listeners a glimpse into two vastly different worlds while simultaneously bridging the gap across cultures. After all, they say music is the universal language of mankind.
More recently, in 2024, she formed a band called Ilanga, which means the sun in Zulu. A three-piece with TK, an acoustic guitarist, and a drummer, their goal is to perform more originals in hopes of spreading the beauty of afro soul and Zulu music. With performances at Snap Cafe in District 2 for two months running now, they’re only just getting started.
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