The wait is finally over for fans of Cape Town-born singer and songwriter, Tye Platinum, who releases his first single in two years, MAYBE, on all major digital platforms today.
The 37-year-old musician rose to fame as a finalist on The Voice SA in 2019 when he traded his behind the scene songwriter work for the spotlight. After which, he realised his lifelong dream – during the height of the global pandemic- when he released his debut music single, That’s Why I Love You, in 2020.
Now, two years later, Tye is releasing, MAYBE, his second single, which is described as a labour of love for the R&B and soul-inspired crooner.
“This song holds true to my roots as an R&B lover and performer. We set our intentions on achieving a mixture of the glory days of R&B and what it has evolved into as of late,” he said.
For over a decade, Tye has worked both behind the scenes, writing for other SA musicians, as well as on stage as a performer with various local music groups. He leaned on his industry knowledge for the latest release.
“I had a great team putting this song together. My two co-authors Devon Van Rooi and Charl Smidt helped me bring this story to life. We hired the services of bassist Kurt Randall and Keanu Harker on lead guitar to feed my love for live instrumentation. The rest of the music was split between myself and my co-producer and engineer Shaggy,” he said.
When writing music, Tye often draws inspiration from his own life, and he says that this time is no different.
“Maybe speaks about the emotional unrest of not knowing where you stand with someone you deem as special, This song was written as an attempt at closing a chapter of my life that I kept on reliving,” he said.
“Most times people can’t put how they feel into words, and hopefully, this song can be those words to someone who has had this experience.”
MAYBE is now available on all major digital music outlets.
TYE PLATINUM BIOGRAPHY
From the tender age of 9 years old, Tye Platinum already had a massive passion for music as a vast form of art with many facets. This passion later developed into a passion for writing, composing and arranging music.
He grew up in Ravensmead in Cape Town and his craft was cultivated in church, as many other artists of his time. Tye then joined a local Capetonian band, Ambition, which went on to tour the U.S.A. in 2004.
Tye Platinum decided to further his already extensive knowledge of this craft by going to attain a formal musical education at Xulon (now known as Cape Music Institute) in 2006 while simultaneously co-founding the SAMA-nominated band Blackcurrant, where he played the role of lead singer and songwriter until 2011. In 2009, Tye wrote the Blackcurrant’s first hit radio single “Simplify” which continues to circulate on radio stations nationwide. Blackcurrant was one of the first independent Capetonian bands to sign an international distribution deal with P-Vine records in Japan.
Since then, Tye Platinum has had the privilege to grace some of South Africa’s most prestigious stages such as the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, alongside some of the world’s finest acts namely Jonathan Butler, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Johnny Clegg among others.
Currently, Tye Platinum is a solo artist who forms part of many collectives such as Allegro 80 – a trio acapella group and is focusing on compiling his nuanced sound, which combines RnB soul, indie and soft rock music, into his debut album which he hopes to release in 2021.
