Tendaness

Tatenda Mandaza (born 10 September 1992), known professionally as Tendaness, is a Swazi-born record producer, DJ and songwriter.

Early life and career Tatenda Mandaza was born in Mbabane, the capital city of Eswatini. His mother is Swati and his father is Zimbabwean. He began his music career in 2007–2008 in his bedroom after having picked up an interest in the art from a friend in high school. He got his stage name 'Tendaness' from his friend who taught him how to use turntables in 2008. He mastered the process of music production and established his record label, Tendamix Records in 2011. Tendaness has won two national "DJ of the Year" awards in Eswatini (2010–2011 and 2011/2012) and won first place in the Sprite DJ Champion 2011.

In August 2012, Tendaness moved to the United States to attend the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He studied advertising with a minor in Film and Media Studies for four years while still making music. Tendaness released his first EP Play on 23 August 2012 under UK based indie label Crossborder Records. He has released many more singles, EPs and official remixes to date. He released a major single "Overload" in 2013. The single featured former Cashtime member Smashis (now Zingah) and rapper Kid Nice. The track was released during his time as Coca-Cola Swaziland Ambassador, as part of the Crazy For Good Campaign. The song gained major airplay in Swaziland and South Africa and had the first ever Swazi music video to be aired on major music channels like MTV Base and Channel O. On 3 March 2016, he released his debut LP "Grande" featuring a roster of upcoming artist from Swaziland and around Africa.

Career On 24 March 2017 he released the debut single from his debut album "Tendanes" titled "Jika ft. Bholoja & LO. The song was play-listed radio by stations in many countries in Africa and beyond. He is signed to his own label Tendamix. Tendamix is Mandaza's own label. Jika reached number 1 on the Apple Music Top 100 Charts for Swaziland, reached Number 1 on the SBIS 2 Top 100 songs of 2017, Number 2 on the Y Urban Top 40 Chart and Number 29 on the #YTop100 songs on 2017 Charts on YFM in South Africa (where the song was placed on heavy rotation), Number 2 on the DJ Edu DNA Top 5 Chart on BBC Radio 1Xtra and number 4 on the Afro Turn Up Charts on PBS 106.7FM in Melbourne, Australia. The music video for "Jika" was later released on 22 June 2018.

Discography

LPs Album titleAlbum detailsGrande Released: 3 March 2016 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download

Official Remixes Remix TitleMixtape DetailsEmrah Is – Fuck the Robot (Tendaness Remix) Released: 25 May 2013 Label: UL Records Formats: Digital downloadCamp Mulla – Party Don't Stop (Tendaness Remix) Released: N/A Label: Sub Sahara Formats: Digital downloadLo & Adrienne Foo – Ride (Tendaness Remix) Released: 10 February 2015 Album: Art Money Label: Swazi Jive Formats: Digital downloadAdrienne Foo – Pressure (Tendaness Remix) Released: 10 February 2015 Album: Art Money Label: Swazi Jive Formats: Digital download

Extended plays Mixtape TitleMixtape DetailsFortune – EP Released: 23 August 2012 Label: UL Records Formats: Digital downloadPlay – EP Released: 1 November 2012 Label: Crossborder Records Formats: Digital downloadSober Day, Drunk Night – EP Released: 12 December 2012 Label: VIA Recordings Formats: Digital downloadThe Unexpected – EP Released: 19 February 2013 Label: Fantom Digital Formats: Digital download

Singles Single TitleSingle DetailsAlbumOverload ft. Smashis and Kid Nice Released: 21 October 2013 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleGold Chain ft. Kikwa and Reggie Released: 2 February 2015 Label: Swazi Jive Records Formats: Digital downloadSingleDrinking & Driving (DUI) ft. LO Released: 12 March 2015 Label: Swazi Jive Records Formats: Digital downloadGrandeSkeem ft. Donno & Lo Released: 13 November 2015 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadGrandeBad Mami Game ft. Kikwa Released: 3 March 2016 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadGrandeJIKA ft. Bholoja & LO Released: 24 March 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleLove Me ft. Velemseni & Bholoja Released: 9 June 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleCall on Me ft. Nomalungelo Released: 26 July 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleSolo ft. Velemseni Released: 28 September 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleTell Me ft. Tiyas King Released: 30 November 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleMake Up Your Mind ft. Symphony Released: 2 February 2018 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingleMosha ft. Masandi Released: 24 August 2018 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital downloadSingle

Studio albums Album titleAlbum detailsTendaness Released: 22 March 2019 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download

Awards and nominations