# Tendaness

Tatenda Mandaza (born 10 September 1992), known professionally as Tendaness, is a Swazi-born record producer, DJ and songwriter.

## Early life and career

Tatenda Mandaza was born in Mbabane, the capital city of Eswatini. His mother is Swati and his father is Zimbabwean. He began his music career in 2007–2008 in his bedroom after having picked up an interest in the art from a friend in high school. He got his stage name 'Tendaness' from his friend who taught him how to use turntables in 2008. He mastered the process of music production and established his record label, Tendamix Records in 2011. Tendaness has won two national "DJ of the Year" awards in Eswatini (2010–2011 and 2011/2012) and won first place in the Sprite DJ Champion 2011.
In August 2012, Tendaness moved to the United States to attend the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He studied Advertising with a minor in Film and Media Studies for four years while still making music. Tendaness released his first EP Play on 23 August 2012 under UK based indie label Crossborder Records. He has released many more singles, EPs and official remixes to date. He released a major single "Overload" in 2013. The single featured former Cashtime member Smashis (now Zingah) and rapper Kid Nice. The track was released during his time as Coca-Cola Swaziland Ambassador, as part of the Crazy For Good Campaign. The song gained major airplay in Swaziland and South Africa and had the first ever Swazi music video to be aired on major music channels like MTV Base and Channel O. On 3 March 2016, he released his debut LP "Grande" featuring a roster of upcoming artist from Swaziland and around Africa.

## Career

On 24 March 2017 he released the debut single from his debut album "Tendanes" titled "Jika ft. Bholoja & LO. The song was play-listed radio by stations in many countries in Africa and beyond. He is signed to his own label Tendamix. Tendamix is Mandaza's own label. Jika reached number 1 on the Apple Music Top 100 Charts for Swaziland, reached Number 1 on the SBIS 2 Top 100 songs of 2017, Number 2 on the Y Urban Top 40 Chart and Number 29 on the #YTop100 songs on 2017 Charts on YFM in South Africa (where the song was placed on heavy rotation), Number 2 on the DJ Edu DNA Top 5 Chart on BBC Radio 1Xtra and number 4 on the Afro Turn Up Charts on PBS 106.7FM in Melbourne, Australia. The music video for "Jika" was later released on 22 June 2018.

## Discography
### LPs

| Album Title | Album Details |
| Grande | Released: 3 March 2016 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download |

### Official Remixes

| Remix Title | Mixtape Details |
| Emrah Is – Fuck the Robot (Tendaness Remix) | Released: 25 May 2013 Label: UL Records Formats: Digital download |
| Camp Mulla – Party Don't Stop (Tendaness Remix) | Released: N/A Label: Sub Sahara Formats: Digital download |
| Lo & Adrienne Foo – Ride (Tendaness Remix) | Released: 10 February 2015 Album: Art Money Label: Swazi Jive Formats: Digital download |
| Adrienne Foo – Pressure (Tendaness Remix) | Released: 10 February 2015 Album: Art Money Label: Swazi Jive Formats: Digital download |

### Extended plays

| Mixtape Title | Mixtape Details |
| Fortune – EP | Released: 23 August 2012 Label: UL Records Formats: Digital download |
| Play – EP | Released: 1 November 2012 Label: Crossborder Records Formats: Digital download |
| Sober Day, Drunk Night – EP | Released: 12 December 2012 Label: VIA Recordings Formats: Digital download |
| The Unexpected – EP | Released: 19 February 2013 Label: Fantom Digital Formats: Digital download |

### Singles

| Single Title | Single Details | Album |
| Overload ft. Smashis and Kid Nice | Released: 21 October 2013 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Gold Chain ft. Kikwa and Reggie | Released: 2 February 2015 Label: Swazi Jive Records Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Drinking & Driving (DUI) ft. LO | Released: 12 March 2015 Label: Swazi Jive Records Formats: Digital download | Grande |
| Skeem ft. Donno & Lo | Released: 13 November 2015 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Grande |
| Bad Mami Game ft. Kikwa | Released: 3 March 2016 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Grande |
| JIKA ft. Bholoja & LO | Released: 24 March 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Love Me ft. Velemseni & Bholoja | Released: 9 June 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Call on Me ft. Nomalungelo | Released: 26 July 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Solo ft. Velemseni | Released: 28 September 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Tell Me ft. Tiyas King | Released: 30 November 2017 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Make Up Your Mind ft. Symphony | Released: 2 February 2018 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |
| Mosha ft. Masandi | Released: 24 August 2018 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download | Single |

### Studio albums

| Album Title | Album Details |
| Tendaness | Released: 22 March 2019 Label: Tendamix Formats: Digital download |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award Ceremony | Prize | Work/Recipient | Result |
| 2010 | Swaziland National Arts & Culture Awards | DJ of the Year | Himself | Won |
| 2011 | Swaziland National Arts & Culture Awards | DJ of the Year | Himself | Won |
| 2011 | Sprite DJ Championship | Best DJ | Himself | Won |
| 2017 | MTN SWAMA Awards | DJ of the Year | Himself | Nominated |
| 2018 | MTN SWAMA Awards | Best Collaboration | Jika ft. Bholoja & LO | Won |
| 2018 | MTN SWAMA Awards | Best Music Video | Jika ft. Bholoja & LO | Nominated |
| 2018 | MTN SWAMA Awards | Song of the Year | Jika ft. Bholoja & LO | Nominated |