Tarryn Reid and Clairise Hefke have stumbled into global success — one misstep at a time.
It may appear to some that the amapiano DJ duo TxC, named Best New International Act at the BET Awards held in Los Angeles earlier this month, have been catapulted from relative obscurity onto the international stage.
The musicians from Gqeberha have never won a South African award and say they have more international than South African followers. They told the Sunday Times this week that their win had been marred by the many off-colour comments on social media that questioned who they were.
Even their big night was somewhat anticlimactic. They were still on the red carpet outside the Peacock Theatre when they were announced as winners, so they ended up receiving their award outside. As a result, their victory was not televised.
“There was a holdup at the award venue, so a lot of artists did not make it to the pre-show. That’s why it was not on TV,” Tarryn explains.
Things were no smoother on their return to South Africa. Scheduled interviews with the Sunday Times were confirmed but not honoured.
After finally being pinned down, thanks to their record label Sony stepping in to provide assistance, they were late for the interviews owing to the pressing demands of “hair and makeup” and could only spare a few minutes to speak to the newspaper.
Things degenerated further when Tarryn announced she was tired of doing interviews, and that the Sunday Times should rather text her the questions.
Despite the prima donna attitude, the duo said they were elated about their win.
“It’s a crazy feeling. It’s our first award, and it’s an international one. Every time a ’Congratulations!’ comes up, it brings that excitement back again,” Clairise said.
“I found out when we were on the red carpet that we had won. I was like, ‘No, you’re joking!’ Until we got to the end of the red carpet and they gave us the award, I was like, ‘Are you guys sure? Us? TxC from South Africa?’
“We were at home together when our label called to tell us we had been nominated. Ever since we heard that, things became stressful, because now that our names were there, we had to win. So we campaigned vigorously, posting online every day and begging people to vote for us,” Tarryn added.
Their fate was in the hands of social media users, who had to “like” the BET International post announcing their nomination. The duo garnered 861,000 “likes” in response to the post.
They had doubts they would win, as this was their first-ever nomination.
“When we were asked how we felt, I would say, ‘I’m so scared. What if we don’t win?” admits Clairise. “I would say, ‘Even if we don’t win, I am grateful for the opportunity to just be there and be part of something so big.’ We’ve never been nominated for a South African award before, so that was where the doubt came from. But when you serve a big God, it’s possible.
“It was a crazy feeling because BET is something you see on TV. You watch all these big artists not knowing that one day you will be on the other side of the TV — not just watching but getting to participate and experience the live show. The entire BET experience was just super crazy, and we are so grateful to have been there.”
The duo admit they always wanted to be famous.
“When we started, we went to a DJ school, but as soon as we wanted to start playing, Covid-19 hit. So we started online. One of our first challenges was playing and literally being outside, so we started streaming,” Clairise said.
“At the time, there was no blueprint for streaming, because we were the first female DJs to do it. We then incorporated dancing into our act as well, because we needed something that would set us apart and keep people interested. At the time, there weren’t many female amapiano DJs, so it was about establishing how we were going to be different.”
Their first booking was from London, and they later collaborated with artists such as the Nigerian-American singer-songwriter and record producer Davido.
In the wake of their win, more international bookings have been added to their upcoming tour, as they gear up to perform in Angola and London.
“Everyone’s journey is different. Ours has involved more work outside [the country] than in it, which is fine because that’s our market as well. But we have not forgotten our home, because that’s where it all started for us. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for [our South African fans].”
The amapiano stars are set to release a new single titled Bom Bom with fellow South African amapiano artist Scotts Maphuma on June 27. They said international stars had also expressed interest in working with them.
“It [the BET win] did upgrade the schedule — it’s really been doing things for us,” Clairise said. “It added to the tour. We are talking to brand-new artists we didn’t think we could reach out to. They come into your DMs saying, ‘Congratulations!’ — and that’s when we start talking business.”
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