Age is nothing but a number
KwaThema - At the tender age of 17, Thabiso 'Tee Skillz' Vilakazi can already proudly say that he is not just an upcoming musician, but also a songwriter and a studio owner from the East Rand.
The lad, who has already made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, said his journey began when he was a public speaker at Selpark Primary School and at that stage, he was known as a powerful speaker.
At the same time, he was also the school’s poet, writing poems for the school’s newspaper (The Selpark Chatter), which gave birth to his musical passion.
Today he is a a great example of what he refers to as a ‘creator’ rather than a rapper.
“I already have an Extanded Play (EP) out, titled ‘Anti-Social EP’, which paints a picture of my background and my growth without a father figure in my life,” he says.
Vilakazi goes on to say that this is a role his bigger brother, Tumelo Vilakazi, who is seven years older than him, ended up filling.
“I further released a hit single thereafter, titled ‘Blackout’, which was rated the best and highly honoured track out of Springs, by Springs Magazine for the year 2015/16. It was produced by my all time talented producer, Thulani ‘DMT’ Mabuza,” he says. The young musician has had the honour of being featured in K.I.D Druggy’s debut mixtape, titled ‘Pink Walls Mixtape’, on a track called ‘Tee Skillz Interlude’ which hit over a thousand downloads.
“I have had many great opportunities and can add in that I’ve been fortunate to work with artists like TP Toes, Zane, Gravity and Mocastic, among other talented artists and I am looking forward to soon be working with a very beautiful vocalist, Mbali ‘Latoya’ Mlambo.”
His success does not stop there, as Vilakazi, despite being a teen, already owns a studio which has helped him be widely appreciated for his level of sound engineering, mixing and mastering tracks by other artists around the East Rand.
He says the best moment of his life is probably when he performed at Da Venue, opening for one of his mentor’s, Sabotage, at a mixtape launch,.
The young lad, who is making a name for himself, shows his gift when he puts pen to paper.
He inspires and gives motivation to others by saying: “If you see it in the mind, you can hold it in your hand, so don’t let judgment determine who you are, for you are the only one in charge of your own aspirations.”
