Many times music is an extension of the inner self. Through recording sessions, the deeply ingrained values of an artist are brought to their own dimension and are shared with the world through sound. Tamara Kumbula explores this phenomenon by bringing her undoubted passion, roots, and aptitude for adventure into her music.  

Looking to explore her abilities as a musician, Tamara moved from her home town in South Africa to LA to attend The Musicians Institute in Hollywood. Soon after, she began transferring her bold, adventurous, and experimental energy into her first single, “Bounty,” which she wrote, produced and independently released. Now, with four official releases, we hear her confident genre-blending personality strengthening and making her an artist to absolutely keep on your radar.

Get to know Tamara through our interview below:

Hey Tamara, I hope you’re doing well during these unprecedented times. We’d love to start off by getting to know you a little more. Could you tell us some of the basics? Your age, where you’re from, are you signed, what instruments do you play?

Hey, Yeah hope you are too. I just turned 21, I’m a South African (LA based) singer/songwriter/producer and I’m an independent artist managed by Preach Media.

What’s something people don’t know about you? 

I put salt on everything and I’m obsessed with Disney movies.

What was it like moving from South Africa to Los Angeles, California?

I was really excited moving here because I really like traveling and getting to know different places. LA is the entertainment capital of the world so I was really excited that I’d be in the mix of everything and get to work with a lot of really talented artists.

How would you describe your music?

I’d say my music is a mix of pop/rap and is super percussion-based. I love experimenting and working with different/new sounds and blending genres so I find it pretty hard to put my music in a specific genre. 

How and why did you get started with music?

I first started singing when I was around 10 but only started to take it seriously when I was around 17/18. Throughout high school I was always interested in the arts though and did a lot of drama and ballet. I’ve always loved music so personally, I find it hard to pinpoint a distinct reason, I just always have.

Who or what are your biggest musical influences?

Definitely Beyonce, Big Sean, Anderson Paak, and Post Malone to name a few.

Who would be your dream to collaborate with?

Hmm, probably Big Sean because he’s a really amazing writer and I’m really focused on improving my writing at the moment.

As an artist, what are some of your major goals in the next five years?

Major goals would be to go on tour and release my album. I’d also really like to collaborate with as many talented artists as I can and in doing so land a spot on Billboard.

Any near-future plans? Songs dropping or other things to look out for?

Yes, I’m currently working on my debut album but with everything going on lately we’re running a bit behind but I’m still doing a lot of features for different channels in the meantime.

What are you listening to right now?

I feel like I fluctuate everyday haha but recently I’ve been listening to a lot of throwback songs from 2013-2015 and MKTO’s Classic is probably at the top of my list.

Can you tell us more about your most recent release, “Clockwise (Gold)”?

Yeah! I really wanted to make an experimental but super catchy song that a lot of people could relate to/ remember easily. I also typically write about what I’m personally going through and with Clockwise, I wanted to write a song that motivated myself to keep moving forward regardless of whatever I’m going through at the moment.

Make sure to listen to Tamara below and follow her on social media to keep up to date with new releases!