Martin Morocky (born 31 March 1983), known by his stage name as The Dogg (or King TeeDee), is a

Namibian This is a demography of the population of Namibia including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population Census results As r ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. Considered a

Kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a sound that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

artist, his debut album, '' Shimaliw' Osatana'', was released in 2004 to mixed reviews. The Dogg was part of the group Omalaeti O'Swapo, which released one album in 2004. His music is enjoyed internationally, in countries such as

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. The Dogg has performed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He has received awards and nominations from

Channel O Channel O is a South Africa–based music channel that started transmission in 1997. Its main concept is African music in Africa and the diaspora. Channel O can be accessed via DStv, a satellite pay TV service for pan-African households. The ch ...

. He is one of the highest-awarded artists in his country, as well as one of the highest-selling. As of 2022, King Tee Dee has about 11 albums, where most of his songs are on livestream, and over 20 awards to his name, and he is the most-awarded musician in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. The money earned through live performances, licenses, royalties, and awards has contributed significantly to King Tee Dee's net worth. The Dogg is the owner of the Mshasho Productions record label and the associated

Mshasho Clothing Mshasho Clothing is a Namibian clothing brand founded by Martin "The Dogg" Morocky. The company is 100% owned by Mshasho closed corporation operating as a subsidiary. The name ''Mshasho'' is derived from its original name ''Omushasho'' which i ...

Early life

The Dogg began his formal education at Onayena Primary School situated in Onayena, a village in east

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. It had a population of 30,364 people in 2023. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missi ...

, where he has been living since returning from exile in

, in 1989. Morocky is the youngest child of four siblings. His aspiration as a child was to become a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

while music remained a dormant passion. In 1997, he moved to Windhoek City to attend his secondary education at

Augustineum Secondary School The Augustineum Secondary School, established in 1866, is among the oldest schools in Namibia. Originally situated in Otjimbingwe, it was relocated to Okahandja in 1890, and finally to Windhoek in 1968. Previously also known as the Augustineu ...

Khomasdal Khomasdal is a suburb of Namibia's capital of Windhoek in the Khomas Region. Founded as Windhoek's residential area for Coloured people, Khomasdal still is primarily composed of Coloured people. In October 2006, the City of Windhoek announc ...

. After graduating from high school, Morocky chose to study for a

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

degree at the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, and the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the following fac ...

. He left the university after one academic year to pursue a music career.

Social media platforms

King Tee Dee is on some social media platforms, like

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. He has 383K followers, 969 followers, and 123 posts on

Musical career

Rise to fame

The Dogg used to perform at school concerts in his high school years. When he was in grade nine, he and long-time friend Joe Basson, now known as Auntie Sousa, created a kwaito dancing group called Amasilkies. Before pursuing a music career, he was a backup artist and a dancer and he also opened shows for his famous cousin Killa B and well-known friend Jossy Joss. Morocky also opened concerts for well-known

n artists, including Mzekezeke,

Malaika Malaika Nakupenda Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian artist, Adam Salim in 1945 and recorded for the first time by Kenyan musician, Fadhili William. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya a ...

, Mafikizolo,

Mandoza Mduduzi Thembinkosi Edmund Tshabalala (17 January 1978 – 18 September 2016), also known as Mandoza, was a South African singer-songwriter and kwaito recording artist. He was known for his contributions to the kwaito genre and his numerous hi ...

, Brown Dash, Brickz, and Ishmael among others. He rose to fame following the release of his hit single "Jesus Otati", a kwaito-gospel song produced by

Elvo Hellenic Vehicle Industry (ELVO, also spelled in English as ELBO) is a Greek manufacturer of civilian and military vehicles based in Thessaloniki, Greece. History The Hellenic Vehicle Industry started business as ''Steyr Hellas S.A.'' assem ...

in 2003. "

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Otati" (meaning "

is saying") opened doors for Morocky's career. The song was very popular and earned him comparison to South African

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a sound that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

star

due to the roughness in his voice, which was compared to that of Mandoza. His voice was also compared to American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

DMX, who is also known as The Dog, from which Morocky possibly got his stage name. The success of "

Otati" propelled The Dogg to win the award for Artist of the Year and Best Kwaito Song at the 2003 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. He then in 2003 founded Mshasho Productions, which gained popularity in 2004 after his second album.

Early career

While struggling to compile his album, The Dogg met and befriended upcoming artist Gazza, who had just returned to Namibia from studies in

. The two started recording together and with the help of Elvo, they recorded "Ghetto Life", a song by Gazza. This song's credits would later bring tension between the two artists. The two later signed solo recording contracts with a kwaito label, RC-Ghetto Records. The Dogg immediately started working on his debut album, releasing the critically acclaimed hit "Perfecto Tromentos" later that year. Around the same time, The Dogg was featured by Gazza on his hit "Shidolodolo", which went on to be very popular and won an award for Best Collaboration at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. Morocky released his debut album '' Shimaliw' Osatana'' in February 2004 under RC-Ghetto. It became the first full-length kwaito album in his country and won the award for Best Selling Album at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album was primarily produced by Elvo, who by then became The Dogg and Gazza's mentor. Later that year in December, Morocky released his second studio album, '' Take Out Yo Gun''. The album was released on his label Mshasho Productions. The lead single from the album, "The Dogg Is Back", won awards for Best Kwaito Song and Best Video at the 2005 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. Morocky would later win the Artist of the Year award for the third time in three years at the 2005 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The Artist of the Year award raised eyebrows by other artists, who started discriminating against Sanlam-NBC's awarding system. This situation would later bring bad blood between The Dogg and music partner Gazza, whom critics claimed was robbed of the award. Morocky signed the first artist to his Mshasho label, Sunny Boy, whom he met while studying at the University of Namibia. It later turned out that Sunny refused a recording offer from Gazza before signing with The Dogg. At a concert in Luderitz (2005) The Dogg and Gazza got involved in a rooted argument that would later turn sour, prohibiting the two from working together in the future. The argument was driven by Sunny Boy's decision to sign with Mshasho, which Gazza claimed was a betrayal as he had plans for signing him to his

Gazza Music Productions Lazarus Shiimi (born 10 March 1977), known by his stage name Gazza, is a Namibian musician. Career Born in Oshikuku,Tonchi, Victor, L.; Lindeke, William A.; Grotpeter, John J. (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Namibia'', Scarecrow Press, , p. ...

. After the news hit the media, fans started taking sides. A lot of other issues surfaced, including an argument surrounding the Sanlam-NBC Artist of the Year award, which was unfairly awarded to The Dogg. In May 2006 Morocky released his third album, ''

Introducing TeeDee Introducing TeeDee is the third studio album by Namibian kwaito musician and producer The Dogg. It was released by Mshasho Productions in May 2006, and was the first to be managed by KOOL Productions. The album introduced his alias TeeDee to his ...

''. The Dogg co-produced the entire album with Jay Malgas. On the album, The Dogg also introduced his label's artists (OmPuff, Sunny Boy, Tre, and Nasti) who all appear on the album. The first single, "Baby Don't Go", won two awards at the 2006 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards, for Best Collaboration and Best Afro-pop. It also won two awards at the 2006 Namibian Music Awards for Best Collaboration and Best Single. The Dogg also won the award for Best Hip Hop Song in 2006 at the Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. In 2007 it was nominated and won the award for Best Newcomer at the Channel-O Spirit of Africa Video Awards.

''You Can't Ignore''

In 2007 The Dogg continued to enjoy success with his music career, he performed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

at the beginning of the year and had various tours around

with his

Mshasho Mshasho Productions, also referred to as Mshasho Music Productions and Mshasho Records, is a Namibian Independent record label founded by Namibian musician and producer, Martin "The Dogg" Morocky in 2003. The company is a subsidiary of The Dogg' ...

crew. Despite the success of his last album ''

'', he was highly criticized for selling out. He proved critics wrong with the release of '' You Can't Ignore'', which was considered a comeback classic and was compared to his first and second albums for its hardcore beats and dark lyrics. The album was well received, The entire album was self-produced under the mentor guidance of Elvo, with only two songs produced by DJ Kboz. The first single from the album, "Can You Feel It", was produced by DJ Kboz. It features Mshasho artist

Tre Van Die Kasie Tretius Kauhangengo (born 1981), better known as Tre Van Die Kasie, most commonly referred to as Tre is a Namibian kwaito musician and rapper. Tre rose to fame after signing with Mshasho Productions in 2005. He is the half brother of fellow kwai ...

. The song became a popular hit across Namibia's borders, winning an award at the 2008 Channel O Music Video Awards for the category Best Kwatito Video.
It also won Song of the Year and Best Single at the 2007 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album became very successful, winning The Dogg his fourth award for Artist of the Year at the same ceremony in 2007. The Dogg has won this award four times in five years. Another popular song was "Get Sum More", produced by DJ Kboz, and featuring the most anticipated rapper at the time Qonja. The song was a very popular club hit. It won an award for Best Collaboration 2008 Namibian Music Awards. Another popular song "My Girl" also won Best Single at the same awards. The success of the album made it possible for The Dogg to win the People's Choice Award at the same awards. The video for "Hands Up" was nominated by Channel O Music Video Awards in 2009 in the category of Best Kwaito Video and lost to Gazza's "Passop". The Dogg also approached Gazza on "He He He" and Jericho (rapper), Jericho on "Hands Up".

2009 and beyond

The Dogg's fifth studio album, '' This Is My Time'', was released on 3 April 2009. The Dogg produced the entire album himself with guidance from Elvo. In March 2009, The Dogg was nominated for "African Artist of the Year" by Nigeria's Hip-Hop World Awards. The award ceremony was secretly held and never revealed who the winner was and denied nominating the rapper. The organizers made a controversial comment about who he was and from which country he was from. When asked about the issue, Dogg said it was funny to nominate a musician you do not know. The Dogg was chosen to be the first celebrity guest in the Big Brother Africa 4 house. He entered the house on Friday 16 (week 6 of the show) and left on Sunday 18. He also appeared the eviction show, performing "Forget" with Namibian singer Ricardo. The Dogg released his sixth studio album, '' The Power of 7 – Elevating Elevators'', on 30 April 2010. The album was criticized for its poor track listing and the ever-repeating sole production of The Dogg, which makes the album sound similar to its predecessors. In

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

of that year he announced that he was busy working on an album with rapper Qonja. The two rappers collaborated on a short album entitled ''Lets Celebrate'', released on 16 December 2010 on Mshasho Records. Produced by The Dogg and Elvo, the album features the hits "Let's Celebrate" with TeQuila, "Be My Shepherd" with KK and Lil' D, and "

Merry Christmas The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...

released The Dogg's seventh studio album, '' The Deception'', on 2 July. It was entirely produced by The Dogg and features big-name artists. It features South African Kwaito star Brickz on the song "Tromentos" and

n singer JK on the song "End of Time", and both songs feature Sunny Boy.

artist OmPuff also appeared on "End of Time". The Dogg announced via his

fan page that ''The Deception'' would shortly be followed by a part two album, also announcing the title of the upcoming album although not stating when it would be released: "MY NEW SINGLE FROM DECEPTION PART 2 WILL MUTE AFRICA ....PAKAMISH".

Producer role

Besides being a musician The Dogg is also an active

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He has produced hits for several famous Namibian artists. He started producing music in 2005 under the guidance of his mentor

. He has so far shared production credits with Elvo, DJ Kboz, and Christian Poloni. He has produced and served as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

on all albums released under Mshasho Records. Additionally, he has produced hits for non-Mshasho artists, including Sunny Boy, Qonja, Kamasutra, Faizel MC, and Kavax. The Dogg served as the main producer on all of his solo albums since the 2006 release ''

''. "I've tried a few different things, like mixing some house and rave beats with traditional kwaito beats. I'm working on establishing my unique blend of music," says The Dogg in an interview with Mtc.com, in October 2007. Throughout his production career, he has collaborated with

and DJ Kboz, the only two producers to have shared production credit with The Dogg.

Discography

Solo albums

* '' Shimaliw' Osatana'' – ''(2004)'', RC Ghetto * '' Take Out Yo Gun'' – ''(2004)'',

* ''

'' – ''(2006)'', Mshasho/KOOL Production * '' You Can't Ignore'' – ''(2007)'', Mshasho/KOOL Production * '' This Is My Time'' – ''(2009)'', Mshasho * '' The Power of 7 – Elevating Elevators'' – ''(2010)'', Mshasho * '' The Deception'' – ''(2011)'', Mshasho * '' Live or Die'' – ''(2013)'', Mshasho * Respect My Hustle (2015) Mshasho * Concrete Jungle (2017) Mshasho

Other albums

* '' Omalaeti O'Swapo'', (with Gazza,

and Pablo) – ''(2004)'', Omalaeti Music

References

External links

*
official Twitter

The Dogg interview with nammusic.com
* * The Dogg interview with shambuka magazine, May 200
shambukamag.com

Home of Namibian stars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dogg, The 1983 births Living people 21st-century Namibian male singers Kwaito musicians People from Oshikoto Region Musicians from Windhoek Namibian expatriates in Zambia Mshasho Productions artists