Tshego announced as South Africa’s Deezer Next act

Tshego joins pop duo Easy Freak which was selected as a Deezer Next in February.

“Happy to announce I’m officially part of the Deezer Next family,” Tshego wrote on Facebook.

Born in the US, Tshego made a breakthrough onto the local hip hop scene with the release of an EP titled Since 1990 in 2014. He has worked with a number of artists including top rappers Cassper Nyovest, Nadia Nakai and Gemini Major.

“The recent release of his debut album Pink Panther shows a versatile artist who can effortlessly combine R&B, hip hop and Afropop, while featuring talented artists including: King Monada, Riky Rick, Thabsie, Kwesta, Tellaman, Frank Casino and Focalistic,” Deezer team said. “A new addition this year is the dedicated Deezer Next channel that is filled with exclusive content from the Next artists including live sessions and their personal inspirations playlists.

“With previous Deezer Next alumni including Jorja Smith, Rag‘n’Bone Man and Anne-Marie, the current Deezer Next 2019 artists have already collectively experienced a 282% stream increase since the programme began this year.”

Deezer has also announced Colombian singer Manuel Turizo and French/US singer Lolo Zouai as its global priority acts for the Deezer Next programme. The new global acts follow in the footsteps of UK artist Lewis Capaldi who became Deezer Next’s global priority in January prior to becoming a worldwide phenomenon with his international smash hit ‘Someone You Loved.’

“Since we launched our first Deezer Next in 2018, it’s been very rewarding to see how far our hugely talented alumni artists have come,” Deezer vice president and artist marketing Nigel Harding said. “This year we’re proud to have Manuel Turizo and Lolo Zouaï extend their Deezer Next journey. We can’t wait for even more fans around the world to fall in love with their music, just like we did.

“We’re especially thrilled to welcome Manuel as our first Latin global priority artist. Given the rising popularity of Latin music and that 95% of Latin consumption is from streaming, we hope to help continue taking this genre to new heights. As always, our local acts are a force to be reckoned with, and their music will no doubt speak to a new generation of fans.”

Deezer Next is designed to identify and promote emerging talent and enables users to discover a hand-picked selection of new, emerging artists worldwide. The programme is a plus for upcoming musicians, especially in Africa, as it promotes them to new audiences.