Thelumusa Samuel Owen (born 12 April 1991), better known by his stage name Tellaman is a South African singer, songwriter and record producer. Growing up in a musical background, he is most known for a number one charting single by

DJ Speedsta Lesego Nkaiseng (born 4 May 1992), better known as DJ Speedsta, is a South African Disc jockey, DJ and TV personality from Johannesburg, South Africa. He is best known for his hit single, "Mayo (song), Mayo". Career In April 2015, he joined Y ...

titled " Mayo" which features himself,

Yung Swiss Steve Dang (born May 29, 1994) better known by his stage name Yung Swiss, is a Cameroonian-born South African rapper, singer, songwriter and performer from Rosettenville, Johannesburg. Career In early 2015, Swiss released his first sin ...

Frank Casino Nhlanhla Tshabalala, better known as Frank Casino, is a South African rapper and record producer. He is known for his guest appearance on " Mayo" by DJ Speedsta with Shane Eagle, Yung Swiss and Tellaman. He went on to release his major s ...

& Shane Eagle.

Early life and career

Tellaman was born and raised in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. He is a self-taught musician whose interest in music was sparked by his mother, who had him singing at home, at church and in a youth choir. At the age of fifteen he decided to pursue music as a career and began writing and recording his own music. Tellaman was signed and featured in Soul Candi Record's compilation album titled ''Sould Candi Sessions 15'', alongside MoFlava, Lulo Café, Cueber and Hareal Salko. Tellaman's disc, titled ''Ntsikelelo'', included hit singles "Drinks and Music" featuring

Okmalumkoolkat Simiso Zwane (born Brian Simiso Zwane; 27 July 1983), commonly known by his stage name Okmalumkoolkat (sometimes stylized as OkMalumKoolKat) is a South African rapper and half of the rap/ electronic duo Dirty Paraffin from Umlazi Township in D ...

and "Intoxicated" featuring Lastee. The album sales passed Gold status and it was nominated for the Best Compilation Award at the 2015 Metro FM Awards. In June 2016 his EP ''Mind Vs Heart'' was released, followed by another EP titled ''Lucid Dreams'' which was released in February 2017. On 18 May 2018, he signed a record deal with Universal Music South Africa, and released "No Sharing", on 13 July 2018, as his first official single under Universal Music South Africa. On 1 February 2019, Tellaman released his fourth album ''God Decides'', through Universal Music South Africa. Lead singles from the album, include: "No Sharing", "Crew Lit", and "Practice". On 29 November 2019, Tellman signed an international deal with

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

and

Virgin EMI Records Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

. In May 2020, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings Africa.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year

released and album name

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Tellaman
on Twitter {{Authority control Living people Musicians from Durban South African singer-songwriters South African record producers 1991 births English-language singers from the Netherlands