Up-And-Coming Aotearoa Artists: Tusekah

We love an independent artist with self-confidence.

“I will do world tours. I will be booked for major festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury. I will get to do cool things like Triple J Like a Version, NPR Tiny Desk,” Tusekah told us when we asked about her future.

Luckily for Tusekah, she’s able to pair her supreme positivity with the talent to match.

“Lay It Down”, her latest single, is one of the best Aotearoa songs of the year, buoyed by soulful vocals and a swooning chorus primed to soundtrack stylish TikTok videos.

The South African-born, Aotearoa-based artist’s sound sits somewhere between modern R&B and neo-soul, while her family raised her on a wide variety of joyous music, from gospel and church music to South African jazz and UK pop. It’s little wonder, then, that Tusekah has received radio support from far and wide, including the UK and South Africa.

Tussah’s “Lay It Down” is out now. 

Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How did music influence you in your early life?

Tusekah: I’m from South Africa, in particular Durban. I grew up around mini-bus taxis driving down the street with the speakers at maximum volume, the conductors jumping out and breaking into dance and getting into them for a ride to school and back home; spontaneous dance battles on the street, at school and at family gatherings; spontaneous eruptions of songs which were met with harmony.

It was a lot of gospel/worship/church music… South African hip-hop/rap/pop/R&B/house, Gqom, Kwaito, Maskhandi, South African jazz… Pop/soul/R&B/jazz from US and UK… Some European house music too.

What artists influenced you growing up?

Corinne Bailey Rae, Freshly Ground, Alicia Keys, Adele, Beyonce, all the Disney kids, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Brenda Fassie… I could keep going.

When did you discover your passion for creating music?

Pretty early on. My mum recalls me singing her my first song at four (it was about her). There would always be music playing in the house either via a CD or the radio. I would try to mimic the singers and memorise the lyrics to their songs.

When I had gotten to the age where I could write, I had this book where I would write down the lyrics coming out of the speakers.

What are some career highlights so far?

When I look at my career so far, every day feels like a little bit of a highlight because I’m consistently just chipping away at things. Me landing a show that is deemed to be the “highlight” is a collection of micro-moments/actions that lead up to the larger scale result. Thinking about it that way helps keep me sane and enjoying things day by day, and helps me enjoy the bigger things even more when they happen because I’ve taken moments everyday to be present [and remember] that what I am doing is actually pretty cool/fun/exciting.

Having said that, I’ve opened for Grammy Award winners PJ Morton (Wellington, Auckland) in 2024 and Olivia Dean (Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne) in 2025. I showcased at SXSW Sydney in 2025 and went on my first international headline tour then too (shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland). I went on my first headline tour in 2024 which included seven locations around New Zealand.

I am super grateful for all the connections I have made on my journey so far in music. I think about those connections fondly every day and it is silly to not view them as being a highlight of my career so far as well. I tend to be pretty stoked with even the everyday wins so I feel like there is a lot I am not putting on here but I understand I should be concise.

Tell us about your new single “Lay It Down”. What’s the track about?

The song was written after I’d been to an event where I felt like I wasn’t fully being myself. I was being shy and kept to myself instead of making conversation and dancing etc. We (Josh Fountain, Djeisan Suskov and I) then chose to write the song from another person’s perspective encouraging me to be myself. The song is about feeling free enough to be yourself around the people you come into contact with whether they are people you are newly meeting or friends and family. The song is a suggestion to let your hair/guard down.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Official Aotearoa Music Charts (@aotearoacharts)

What kind of personality traits and values do you believe it takes to succeed in the music industry?

Curiosity: There’s a lot to figure out, and I think if you meet it with curiosity it makes it way more fun. This is to do with everything from logistical to creative to interpersonal matters. When something isn’t working, how come it’s not working? When something is [working], how/why/where is it working? How can it be made to work even better?

Resilience: It’s not always going great and it’s not always easy. When it’s not great and when it’s not easy, resilience will come in handy. Resilience I tie together with persistence too. The ‘just keep swimming’ mentality is super important.

Fun: Hopefully we’re all just doing it because we enjoy it. The sense of fun makes everything so much better/easier. Some of the funniest moments of my life have happened while making music.

Team/Community member: I believe success takes team work even if the artist is self-produced and does ‘everything’ themselves. There are so many people also working to make sure they can be heard. It’s important to show respect, gratitude, and all the other good things to those people. This includes people in the comments and the people that come to the show. Being a team/community member is important as well because sometimes advice or help in other forms is needed, and it’s cool to know you can call on people when this is the case.

Audacity: Daring to want to achieve/do something that seems ridiculous but behaving like it’s already yours while working towards it.

How would you describe your music to a potential fan?

I think I haven’t really released enough music for people to really know what I’m about, but my goal is that as I release more [music], people will hear a song and know that it’s my song.

For that reason, I am so excited to answer this question. I would describe it as being 1) Lyrical in the sense that I often have lyrics with a deeper/double entendre that tell a story, and 2) Soulful in the sense that my voice is quite soulful and I lean into that for most of the songs I sing — I love soulful sonics in general.

I am quite honest in the way I song-write, although sometimes the songs aren’t about me. Sometimes I write from inspiration from friends’ stories or watching a movie etc. It’s a little bit new age and a little bit retro. I get accused of rapping in my songs.  Most of the time [a song] is groovy, but I have some tear-jerkers waiting for release too.

What are your goals for 2026 and beyond? What can fans expect from you this year?

This year, I definitely will be releasing the most amount of music I’ve released in a year. Hopefully that will come in the form of an EP. Additionally, I am hoping to do a tour.

Beyond 2026, I will release more bodies of work. I will do world tours. I will be booked for major festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury. I will get to do cool things like Triple J Like a Version, NPR Tiny Desk. I will work as a songwriter on other people’s projects etc.