From Durban to the Country: Keeping Mzansi Spinning With Tumi Turna
Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal as Reitumetsi Mphatswe, amapiano DJ Tumi Turna has been all over the country, using the industry as her makeshift university to study the game in all the different faculties each province has had to offer her. Bred in KZN, burnished in the Western Cape, and now busy in Gauteng, she has her heart set on keeping Mzansi spinning atop her turntable.
A yanos disc jockey with a foundation in the hip-hop scape, Turna credited her learning and her finding her feet to Jozi- and Cape Town-based DJ and record producer Tashinga MTK. Capitalising on the opportunity of moving to CT for her education, she topped the experience with pursing her passion behind the decks.
“I was taught by Tashinga MTK when I was in Cape Town since I used to go to the University of Cape Town. Back in 2019, I randomly asked him to mentor me, and he put me on during my time there. From there, I eventually went off on my own way back to KZN before I relocated to Johannesburg last year.” she said.
Tumi Turna | SUPPLIED
The advent of a new year has been a chrysalis for Tumi, with her being intentional about breaking past the shell to flex her wings for flight in the music industry. Her latest single, titled “Buya”, includes guests such as Sino Msolo, Tycoon, and Raspy. The thumping 2023 offering marks her first as a lead artist.
“My single, “Buya”, features Tycoon, Sino Msolo, and Raspy and is a feel-good song and is low-key about love as well. The song is for the girlies for Valentine’s Day, especially the ones who won’t be getting any gifts, such as myself. But it’s a beautiful song, the kind of vibe that fits anywhere, whether you’re at home or in your car or when you feel you’re mad. It’s a reminder that wherever you go, you’ll always return.” she said.
With dual citizenship shared between the worlds of hip-hop and amapiano, Tumi enjoys a mixed musical heritage that enables her cull influences from two different cultures and find common creative ground. Whether she has her eyes set on rap or piano, for her, the most important thing is ensuring that people have their joy maximised whenever she plays a set.
“When it comes to influences in hip-hop, I looked a lot at Ms Cosmo, DJ Milkshake, and PH, and in terms of amapiano, I like the way DBN Gogo plays as well as Kay Mass, and Kabza De Small. Overall, when I put both genres together, it’s about clean mixing, good track selection, and creating a good vibe for people because that’s what we do as DJs. It’s about making sure everyone enjoys their night and to introduce a bit of new music.” she said.
Tumi Turna | SUPPLIED
Eclecticism is the name of the game for Tumi, with her rehashing the vitality of being able to be dexterous in culturing different sounds and breeding them to live in harmony. In order for a DJ to reach this level of understanding for their craft, Turna spoke of the importance of keeping touch not only with the moves and shakers of the industry, but the seismic motions bubbling under responsible for seemingly random trends in the shape of social media algorithms and era-specific hashtags and challenges.
“You need to keep your ear close to the street. There’s always a new sound, especially with piano coming out all the time. You might have a core style of playing that’s unique to you, but never be afraid of trying out new sounds because there’s so many different sub-genres and it’s important to incoporate different sounds during a set. Because a set, all in itself, is a journey. It doesn’t need to have the same tone or atmosphere from start to finish. For example, you can start soft and soulful and then end with a bit of s’gubhu, so that there’s high energy. Another important thing is to keep engaging with other DJs and producers and hearing other people’s sets and being on social media. I mean, there are a lot of songs blowing up or are about to simply because of TikTok. So that can also help you get where the next big sound might come from and how you can throw it in your core style during your set.” she said.
Although she admitted that there were amazing songs, especially in the past year, she singled out “Funk 55” by Shakes, Les and DBN Gogo, featuring Zee Nxumalo, Ceeka SA & Chley.
“It’s my favourite song at the moment because it’s so relatable. As’namali kumgroovo. It’s a playful song anybody can sing along to it because it’s easy to relate to.” she said.
With hip-hop and amapiano on lock, Tumi expressed a desire for venturing into Afrotech, heaping praise on the genre for the community and the impact it has had on spreading positivity.
“Afrotech is one genre I love besides piano. And right now with the three-step happening, I feel like that’s the perfect bridge between amapiano and Afrotech. I also enjoy it because of the community and the music is feel-good and for any time and any mood. It’s something you can make memories with and I enjoy it.” she said.
Listen to “Buya”: