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Tadiwanashe’s journey started in the very green and mountainous, Mutare, Zimbabwe back in 1996. The name means “we’ve been blessed by God” in the Shona language. Being the youngest of the three siblings meant he would soak up all the musical tastes of the family from the mother’s Gospel, father’s Dub, sister’s R’n’B & brother’s Hip Hop which would become very useful much later on in his open format DJ sets, influences and sample searches as the artist Tadi the Great. The name pays homage to the Shona tribe - of which he is a part - who built the Great Zimbabwe ruins in the late Iron Age and is often capitalised, an ode to the legendary MF DOOM who also had Zimbabwean lineage & British citizenship. Before his move to the UK, he was fascinated by the idea of making music and as soon as he got to the UK started sourcing software and low budget equipment to create his works. Tadi’s earliest musical endeavours involved him providing vocals for Tisoki-produced tracks then later on moving to independently creating his music. After years of trying to find his lane, he sought to explore djing as a means to improve his musical ear and production. During this period, he was making use of BBC Introducing, regularly used #TargetsNoticeBoard and tested his material at a show at the now-defunct Owl Sanctuary venue (not an actual owl sanctuary).

Skip a couple of years, and you’ll see Tadi playing DJ sets in Norwich as a member of various collectives namely Tropico which has taken him to festivals such as Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here Festival, opening for Zed Bias, Flowdan, Jammz & more. Tadi’s relationship with Boom Bap Festival saw him open up for GZA (Wu-Tang) and this was a strictly SP404 set as well as fly to the Netherlands to play at the festival’s Amsterdam Sessions. The year 2019 saw the birth of LowCUT, a show by Tadi on Keakie and despite being based in Norwich, Tadi still came down to record at the offices. From 2019, he held a weekly djing residency at Gonzo’s Tea Room and this was cut short in 2020 by the lockdown restrictions. Despite feeling frantic, Tadi decided to carry on trying to be productive and not overthink and that’s how he ended up with the release of Happy You Called, a beat tape, statement, E.P, a body of work. This received very positive reviews all around and brought back the confidence in releasing music again. Shortly after, Tadi was picked up to be part of Gilles Peterson & Brownwood Music’s Future Bubblers and through this, he has had the opportunity to have his music played on Worldwide FM & perform at the Jazz Cafe. For the Jazz Cafe performance, Tadi was rapping over his production, performing basslines on his Korg Monologue as well as triggering samples and effects via the SP404SX. In the same summer, he was part of No Signal’s first-ever cohort of NS Academy which saw Tadi explore radio-related duties including but not limited to curation, presenting and even a live mix.

BARKING

TADI THE GREAT