Features : TyStringz is a cloud software engineer and Afrobeats enthusiast making a name for himself

TyStringz graduated from college at age 19 and earned a master’s degree in computer science at 22, and then Microsoft came calling to hire him as a cloud software engineer.

The Nigerian native says he can write codes from morning to night, but his real passion lies elsewhere.

“Music is not work for me,” he says. “Music is fun.”

And so TyStringz, after finding success in his professional life, has now set out to make a name for himself as an artist, and he’s not wasting any time. He released his debut single just last year, and the official video earned a quarter of a million views in just 10 months. That single, “Shalaye (Reloaded),” went so far as to chart at No. 2 on the iTunes Chart Worldwide Genre. It even went above the most popular Afrobeats song of 2021 – “Essence” by Whiz Kid – for a couple of days.

His latest release, “Shy,” already has 50,000 plays in only two weeks.

“My music is a blend of different genres and styles of music,” he says. “I play six musical instruments and I can play you jazz, soul, Delta blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, R&B. I’ll play anything, but I’m Nigerian and I’ve only been in the states since 2015 so when I play those styles, those elements, those melodies you can hear the Afrobeats influence. I’m very big on lyrics and very big on melody. Melody is what draws emotion with the lyrics.”

Music has always been an escape for TyStringz, and when he found himself working from home during the pandemic, he decided to pick up his acoustic guitar one day and write “Shalaye,” the first song he’d ever written in his life.

He followed that up with “Far Away,” with the official video being viewed 550,000 times in the last three months. It’s an uplifting song he wrote about being in the kind of happy relationship with someone where “you want to get lost with somebody.”

“We’ve all been in that happy place in a relationship or in our life where we feel like man, nothing can go wrong from here,” he says. “Whether it’s 10 or 20 minutes, an hour, two weeks, whatever. That happiness, that is the melody.”

TyStringz teamed up with L.A.X. to produce “Shy,” which he says covers every aspect of Afrobeats from the melody to the emotion and the vibe it conveys. He wants to give listeners a sense of feeling from the music and its lyrics, which talk about a woman “trying to blossom but there’s a lot of things inside her that she can’t express herself,” he says. “Whether you like it or not, you are special.”

TyStringz tries to write songs with what he calls a “sunshine melody.” He wants to incorporate that happiness regardless of the style he’s writing. “Body” is more of a club banger, while he envisions “Far Away” being listened to at a wedding or tea party.

“What I’m trying to do with Afrobeats is blend it with different styles of music to appeal to a wide global audience,” he says. “Afro jazz, Afro pop, Afro R&B. But I’m using elements that are familiar.”

He’s already got as many as 30 songs recorded and ready for release, and anticipates the first of those will be out in a month or two.

Make sure to stay connected to TyStringz on all platforms for new music, videos and social posts.

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