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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Just over a year since Tebogo Patric Kobola caught the spotlight and became a winner in The 011 Awards, presented by City Awards Management, he has a whole new vision.

Gone is the wild hair and he sports a funky, yet grown up look, wearing his own clothing range.

In June 2020, Tebogo or rather Tebo the Nerd, was named Gqom Artist of the Year and secured R15 000 in marketing contracts.

But unlike some artists, who gain instant fame and become a one-hit wonder, Tebogo took a long break since the awards, focusing on finding himself as an artist. Knowing that it isn't easy to stand out on the music scene, "with everyone sounding the same", he returned to the studio.

"I started spending more time in the studio, trying to figure out who I am by exploring different sounds. I now understand the concept of making good music and what sounds I should fuse, to stand out from the rest."

On the issue of 2020 and the pandemic, he reckons it benefited him. "The pandemic gave me a lot of time to think about all the things I've gone through and the result is, you can expect a lot of storytelling music from me."

Different style
He hates being predictable. "I do have different style and that's why you will never hear me sound the same as in my previous song."

Photo gallery: Unpredictable 'nerd'

His new song went live on 29 July - https://youtu.be/hIZoSmgy2ps

"I know is an Afro beat song that I wrote in 2018. It's about two friends who had feelings for each other, but they take it slowly, because they don't want to ruin what they have. It's just over two minutes long and has a lot of African flavour."

The next big thing for him is the much anticipated extended play record, titled Orange. "It talks about all the sweet and sour things I went through. I am giving listeners a taste."

He fully supports the view of change being good. "If a person doesn't change you won't see growth and we can't be the same person we were yesterday."

In 2020 he started a clothing line after inspiration from a friend. 

"I told my friends I want to take a break from music. They didn't like the sound of that and insisted I should start a clothing brand to stay relevant."

Although it wasn't part of the original plan, he realised starting a brand as Tebo the Nerd and making a comeback as an artist would be easy.

"We quoted a line from my first song, Nerd, that I never released and named the clothing line, Call me a nerd." This unisex line features funky streetwear that makes you stand out from the crowd.

Tebogo believes a lot has changed in the entertainment industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "We have to get used to it. We can't plan things way ahead of time and have to start using the internet to move. I, sadly, haven't set foot on stage since March 2020."

As for lessons learnt in 2020, he speaks wisely: "We should never get too comfortable with the positions we're in. Anything can change and therefore we should always have a plan B, C and D."

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