Tehn Diamond

Tehn Diamond
Tehn Diamond performing at the Big Brother Africa finals 2013
Background information
Birth name	Tendai Nguni
Born	(1985-01-17) 17 January 1985 (age 39)
Origin	Harare, Zimbabwe
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter actor record producer
Years active	2006–2017
Labels	Independent (current)
Spouse(s)	Miss Chindiya

Tendai Ryan Nguni (born January 17, 1985),^[1] is a Zimbabwean rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor from Harare, Zimbabwe. Nguni goes by the stage name Tehn Diamond or Tehn.^[2] He is a member of the hip-hop collective Few Kings,^[3] with whom he has released one album.^[4] On the First of January 2017, Tehn Diamond made his debut in the music industry with the release of his debut album titled 'a few good poems'^[5][6] and later that year they released the sequel to 'The Feeling Aint Fair' titled 'The Feeling Aint Fear' or just #TFAF2^[7] with Jnr Brown & Take Fizzo. He starts in the movie Cook Off, Zimbabwe's first feature film to be released via Netflix.^[8][9]

Early life

Tehn Diamond was born in 1985 to a Sylvester Nguni, a politician and his mother, who worked as a caregiver. He has two sisters and one brother. Raised in the gated community of Borrowdale Brooke section in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tehn Diamond attended the St George's College. However, he later decided to pursue a degree in Finance in Brisbane, Australia. Eventually, he chose to shift focus to a career in music and discontinued his studies.^[10] In 2008, Federal Government of Australia announced the revocation of student visas for nine children of senior members of Former Zimababwe President Robert Mugabe's regime, and Tehn Diamond was among those affected.^[11]

Musical career

Early years

After relocating to Singapore, Tehn Diamond began to delve into exploring music.^[12] Whilst in Singapore, Tehn Diamond performed over 800 live performances.^[13] Subsequently, he made a decision to return to Zimbabwe, where has since established a permanent residence.

Tehn Diamond career started with the release of the mix-tape titled "Student of the Game (SOTG1) — Higher Learning", in 2008^[14] which was followed by another mix-tape titled "Student of the Game (SOTG2) — Boys will be Boys" in 2010.[1] These mix-tapes garnered a significant attention, amassing a considerable fan-base. Tehn Diamond's work earned him recognition at the National Arts Award in 2012, where he was honored with Best Video accolade.^[15]

2012 - Present

In December 2014, he embarked on an extensive tour across Zimbabwe, enchanting audiences at numerous venues across the country. The tour culminated in a noteworthy show held in Bulawayo, which hosted by local beauty products brand Vault Cosmetics.^[16][17] Throughout his career, Tehn Diamond has collaborated with various fellow Zimbabwean artists including The Djembe Monks, tribal house music group from Bulawayo. Tehn Diamond also headlined Africa's biggest reality eviction show Big Brother.^[18][19][20] His song titled "Happy" featuring Jnr Brown was placed in rotation nationally by all major radio stations that include Star FM and Power FM^[21] and was nominated for best song of the year at the Zim Hip Hop Awards^[22] On Valentine's Day 2015 he had the esteemed opportunity to open for a renowned artist Cassper Nyovest at 1+1 Long Cheng Plaza in Harare. His performance was met with tremendous acclaim, with both fans and the main artist himself Cassper Nyovest expressed admiration on Twitter. This further cemented Tehn Diamond's position as a highly regarded and celebrated music figure in the Africa music industry^[23]

Awards

National Arts Merit Awards

The awards which are commonly referred to as the NAMAs are the principal awards in Zimbabwe and Tehn Diamond has won a NAMA more than once particularly in 2012 for Best Video(Happy ft Jnr Brown)^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Compilation albums

As lead artist

References

This page was last edited on 22 February 2024, at 04:50