South African amapiano producer Tyler ICU recently joined Nandi Madida on Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio via FaceTime to discuss his latest single, “Intsango,” a collaborative track with DJ Exit featuring Marsey, CowBoii, Khalil Harrison, Ceeka RSA, and Tyrone Dee. The conversation covered not only the new release but also insights into his upcoming projects, his role in the amapiano scene, and how his spirituality influences his music.
Tyler ICU Tells Apple Music About His New Album, ‘Lucent’
That’s my grandma’s name actually. She’s the one holding my hand on the artwork. I grew up with my gran, so my upbringing was mostly with her. My parents came later in life, at the age when I was starting to go to school. I think I was 7 when I met my parents. From birth, I knew just my gran. That picture holds a lot of memories for me—from how she has raised me and the respect that she has taught me. Also, how she was able to let me do the things that I love, or be into the things that I love. You can see that I’m holding a small radio in the picture. It just holds a lot of meaning in terms of where I come from as a person. There’s a lot of stories on the album, and it’s just [about] being thankful of where I come from.
Tyler ICU Tells Apple Music How Spirituality Plays a Role in His Music
My upbringing has always had a lot of spirit in it. A lot of my spiritual side, or the God that I know today, is from my gran. I was introduced to church at an early age, as my gran would always take me. So I think the musicality of the spiritual songs is just giving praise to God, and thanking God for life, and where we are.
Tyler ICU Tells Apple Music How Producers Propel Amapiano Forward
I think [producers] push a lot in terms of keeping the culture of the music going. The beats are able to introduce new vocalists all the time. You don’t have to have one vocalist just running for a long period of time. It opens up the industry more, because we’re able to get one artist who can come and their life can be changed, then another artist can come and their life can be changed as well. Having the producers at the forefront of our music has been one of the best things.
Tyler ICU Tells Apple Music How He Plans To Expand His Sound
I have some Afro-tech stuff that I’m probably going to put out next year. I have Afro-pop stuff that I’ve been working on. There’s going to be a lot of diverse sounds tipping into next year. There’s a project called ‘Secret Bounce’ that I’m also dropping. Most of the beats there are more experimental. It’s not simple amapiano—there’s a lot of tech sounds; a lot of hip-hop sounds.
