Beats, code and conviction: inside Teemak’s two worlds

For Zimbabwean artist Teemak, real name Taona Oswald Chipunza, music has always been a creative avenue, not a career.

He has explored it from every side. As a producer, he was behind Usatye, the breakout single for KSG Di Don, which went on to amass millions of streams. He went on to write and produce more of KSG Di Don’s catalogue, including Forever featuring Qounfuzed and Louder featuring Jnr Spragga and Propellor, among dozens of others, with artists such as Madedido. The records cross genres, from love songs to dancehall, showing his range as a creative. As an artist, he released Mavambo, the project that defined his sound, blending Zimbabwean roots with modern Afrobeats.

Professionally, his focus today is technology entrepreneurship, built on his background in computer science.

“Music has always been how I express myself. It’s personal,” he says. “But I’ve always been a builder. Technology is where I build things that solve real problems for a lot of people.”

Chipunza’s tech work centres on artificial intelligence and software. He keeps clear boundaries between the two worlds, and says they never compete for his attention. Instead, they work in tandem.

“Each one has its place, and I protect that,” he says. “But they feed each other. Producing a record and building software are closer than people think. Both are about structure, testing, and refining until it works.”

His path has not been without setbacks. His earlier work was in finance, and the public fallout of one of his financial ventures brought him under scrutiny. After that, Chipunza made a deliberate pivot from finance into technology, choosing a field with less risk and more room to innovate.

“There were hard lessons, and I own them,” he says. “I wanted to build in a space where the risk is in the idea, not in other people’s money. Technology gave me that, and I never stopped building.”

He holds a clear view on the local sound: singing in Shona, he believes, is an advantage for Zimbabwean artists going global, not a limit. “Nigeria didn’t drop its languages to reach the world. Neither should we,” he says.

He hopes young Zimbabweans see creativity and technology as partners, not a choice between them. “You can write songs and write code. The same curiosity drives both.”

Teemak’s music, including Mavambo, is available on Spotify, Audiomack and YouTube. More at allwhitelord.com.