AN INCISIVE AND MODERN HIP HOP SINGLE
Otago-based Zimbabwe-born rapper TîMMY the FIRST is making a striking statement with heartfelt protest track ‘THRONE.’ This single, born out of frustration with the international political climate, is as powerful as it is addictive.
Having developed his edgy and deeply personal style across his three years in the Dunedin music scene, TîMMY wrote his first pass of ‘THRONE’ as a frenzied response to racial injustices taking place around the world. “As I watched the protests and the intense energy of this movement,” TîMMY notes, “I couldn’t stop wondering; will this ever stop? Will anything ever change?"
In ‘THRONE,’ TîMMY pays tribute to generations of black activists whilst, at the same time, confronting his own relationship to the world around him. The single isn’t just a protest against injustice, but also a protest against inaction.
“[This movement] showed me how many things I had accepted because I felt they would never change,” he admits, “I felt angry, tired, frustrated. I felt like people like me would never be heard.”
“It’s so hard watching people who look like you being treated that way.”
TîMMY uses the track to reflect on the external pressures that defined his past and prevented him from standing up for himself. The result is an inspirational track that pushes listeners to engage with its ethos: this is our world, let’s do something about it.
TîMMY’s worldly experience is a defining factor in his style, and ‘THRONE’ is no different. First moving from Zimbabwe to New Zealand as a five year old, Timmy was soon uprooted again as his family traveled the world to perform missionary work. “I didn’t really encounter anyone that really looked like me,” he says, “It was tough being an outsider, subconsciously accepting that I was somehow lesser because of my ethnicity.”
Spending much of his childhood living between Canada and the United States, TîMMY learned to connect with people through playing music.
“After traveling the world, I encountered other Africans, other races. I met people who were proud of their skin, people who were happy to be who they are,” he says, “it opened my eyes, there’s more to me than what I look like. I hope to be part of a movement, with the rest of my fellow creatives, to mould that image of what it means to be an African-Kiwi.”
Despite being told for much of his life that hip hop was ‘bad music,’ TîMMY felt a pull towards the genre and fell in love with the process of constructing verses and hooks. Amidst feelings of dissatisfaction with where he was heading, he realised that his life had been defined by others’ preconceptions of who he should be. Instead of following, TîMMY vowed to walk his own path; TîMMY the FIRST was born.
Produced by Abraham Kunin, ‘THRONE' is a culmination of everything TîMMY has learned so far. Embracing the full range of his voice and without holding anything back, this single embodies the “no-compromise” approach that inspired TîMMY’s decision to pursue music.
‘THRONE’ is accompanied by an intense and visually arresting music video directed by Justin Harwood from Tomorrowland. Further showcasing TîMMY’s performance nous and enhancing his credentials as a music innovator to keep an eye on.
Out December 3rd via New Zealand indie label Bigpop Records