Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, gather round, gather round – we’ve got a special edition of The Ricky Tyler Show this afternoon.
We sat down for a bite-sized conversation with one of South Africa’s most exciting young musicians right now. Hot on the heels of his massive announcement – when he revealed that he was the latest African artist to sign to Def Jam Music – the storyteller is ready to drop his newest project Small World and has already given us a taste of what’s to come with a new single.
Read our discussion with the hitmaker below:
Moziak Magazine: I hope you’re well today, welcome to Moziak Magazine. How are you handling life in lockdown level 3?
Ricky Tyler: I’m handling lockdown 3 pretty well. 80% of the time I’m in the studio putting the final touches to my album so honestly, I haven’t even felt quarantine cause I’ve been so busy.
MM: You’ve been really productive during the lockdown and have even dropped a brand new single and announced some BIG news (more on that in a moment). Were you tempted to delay some of your plans because of Covid-19?
RT: I was tempted at one point but at the end of the day my job is to feed my audience with good music. So we decided to keep the ball rolling regardless of this pandemic. The only delay we’ve had is on the visual side of the music. Shooting Music videos and getting content done.
MM: Last week you made headlines after it was announced that you had signed to an international label, Def Jam’s African arm. How does it feel to be backed by one of the biggest names in global music?
RT: The feeling is unreal and I super grateful that talent was recognized at such an international level but it also feels deserved because of the amount of blood sweat and tears I put towards this. I remind myself that it’s the work that got me here and I’ll continue to keep putting in the work.
MM: How have your fans reacted to your latest single #Everything?
RT: The response has been nothing but love and i couldn’t be happier. I definitely think I’m bringing something new to the table and i can’t wait for my fans to hear this album.
MM: What is the first thing you want to do for your fans once we reach Lockdown Level 1?
RT: The first thing I want to do is shoot all the visuals for the album and hopefully get to begin our ‘Small World’ tour when it is safe to do so.
MM: The video for “30 ks” is doing well on YouTube – “Everything” may get its own visuals too – if you had to predict, which music video of yours will be the most-watched in 2020?
To be quiet honest I’m not sure right now, ‘Thirty K’s’ is currently doing amazing numbers on YouTube but ‘Everything’ is a strong contender so i guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Fans might just love the visual you least expect.
