Background

Thamsanqa "Tamy" Moyo, born on 5 January 1998, rose to fame with her 2016 song "Ndibereke" and also acted in the film "Gonarezhou".

Source
Worth Knowing

The Stanbic Music Festival in Lusaka on 3 October 2026 was the only African stop on Jason Derulo's "The Last Dance" World Tour, with Tamy Moyo billed as a special guest alongside Yo Maps and Mampi.

Source
Worth Knowing

Tamy Moyo was named Outstanding Female Musician at the 23rd National Arts Merit Awards, held at the Harare Hippodrome on 1 March 2025.

Source
Worth Knowing

"Royalty", her fourth studio album, features Jah Prayzah, Musa Keys and Delroy Shewe and was produced by Rodney Beatz and Clef Jones, and Greedysouth rated it 7.6 out of 10.

Source

Most Zimbabwean artists would count either one as a good weekend. Tamy Moyo got both. On Friday 2 October she was on the opening-night bill of the Jacaranda Music Festival at Thornpark Polo Club in Harare. By Saturday night she was in Lusaka, on the same stage as Jason Derulo, at the only African show of his world tour.

Then there's the music. In the ten months since her fourth album, "Royalty", she has kept putting out singles and features. Few artists in the country are moving at that pace right now.

Lusaka, and a "pinch me" moment

The Stanbic Music Festival took over Lusaka on Saturday 3 October, and Jason Derulo was its headliner. According to Zambian Music Blog, it was the only African date on his "The Last Dance" World Tour, which had already been through the US, the UK, Europe, China and Australia. The Zambian half of the bill was strong too, with Yo Maps, Mampi, Danny Kaya and Mwila and the Band. Tamy Moyo was billed as the special guest from Zimbabwe, a slot Zambia Monitor confirmed a week before the show.

She didn't hide how much it meant to her. The Herald's Tafadzwa Zimoyo reported that she posted the next morning about having had "the honour of sharing the big stage with Jason Derulo", and added "(pinch me now)". She also thanked her fan base, the Tamnation Dance Tribe, and praised the energy of the Zambian crowd. The Herald saw it as another sign that Zimbabwean artists are getting noticed beyond the border.

The photo that went round afterwards, Tamy in a crystal-studded denim set standing next to Derulo backstage, did the rest of the work online.

Harare, the night before

The Lusaka show came straight after her home commitment. Zimsphere's day-by-day lineup for this year's Jacaranda had her on the Friday, alongside The Travellers Band, Andile Brown, DJ Young Vibes and BRZE, on a night that was meant to be headlined by Jah Prayzah.

That night turned out messier than planned. Jah Prayzah pulled out on the day following the death of Wicknell Chivayo, with Takura and The Legends added in his place, as we reported on Friday. The Daily News also wrote that chilly weather kept numbers down early on Friday, and that the festival only really picked up on Saturday. So the weekend wasn't one long victory lap. Tamy was one of the few Zimbabwean names left at the top of a thinned-out Friday bill, and by the time Jacaranda was finding its groove on Saturday, she was already in Zambia.

Jacaranda is familiar ground for her. In Greedysouth's review of the 2024 edition, the writer said Master H bringing her out for a surprise "Kelly Kelvedhura" might have been their happiest moment of the whole festival. Zimsphere's 2026 preview put it more bluntly: if Tamy Moyo is on a lineup, you just go.

The releases don't stop

What makes the weekend more than a lucky booking is the work behind it. "Royalty", her fourth album, came out on 11 December 2025, in the middle of a run of "Royalty Trilogy" shows that month. It has 14 tracks, with features from Jah Prayzah, Musa Keys and Delroy Shewe. Greedysouth gave it 7.6 out of 10, praising how it draws on soul, dancehall, dendera and sungura, and saying each new Tamy album feels like her best yet. The 7.6 is a fair score, not a rave, and it suggests there's still a level for her to reach.

Most artists would let an album breathe for a few months. Tamy has spent 2026 working it and adding to it at the same time. Going by her YouTube channel, streaming listings and festival announcements, her year so far looks like this:

  • 31 December 2025: the "Tenda" video, the album's opening track, closes out the year.
  • 8 March: she features on "Paris", an Afro House single by Mike Cruzy.
  • 24 March: the official video for "Moyo Wangu", from "Royalty".
  • 8 May: "Anondida", her duet with Takura on his R&B EP "Vanilla". Zimsphere's review said her voice gave the song a richness that made it hit deeper.
  • 15 July: she is nominated for Best Female Southern Africa at AFRIMMA 2026, alongside Tyla, Makhadzi and Uncle Waffles.
  • 24 July: a new video for "Kudyirwa Musaga", another "Royalty" track, with a visualiser four days later.
  • 31 July: "Breakup", a single with BoiDerra.
  • 22 August: a headline slot with Jah Prayzah, Saint Floew and Voltz JT at the St. Ignatius Festival at Old Hararians, a fundraiser for St. Peter's Kubatana in Highfield.
  • 25 August: "Ndiinewe", a new single with Hwindi Prezident.
  • 18 September: "Vanobatwa" with Learn Zimbabwe, Shona Prince, Suhn and Takura, where she is also credited as a songwriter. It follows "Pote", the same crew's 2025 song.
  • 2 October: the video for "Tora", with Shone, lands on the same day as her Jacaranda slot.
  • 3 October: Lusaka, with Jason Derulo.

There's also "Type Yako", a 2026 feature with MTG Hustler. That works out to something new roughly every month, and a fresh song or video somewhere close to every big stage she plays.

Two things stand out in that list. She works with almost everyone, from Jah Prayzah to Hwindi Prezident to younger names like Shona Prince, Suhn and MTG Hustler, and she now has a foot in Afro House and R&B as well as her own Afro-pop. And she keeps her name in front of listeners all year, not just around album launches. That consistency has paid off at home, where she was named Outstanding Female Musician at the 2025 National Arts Merit Awards, Music in Africa reported. The AFRIMMA nomination shows it is starting to register further afield too.

What it means

The Lusaka show matters beyond one photo. Zambian festival organisers are bringing in global headliners and putting regional acts on the same bill, and a Zimbabwean artist is now one of the names they pick. That opens a circuit that's closer and cheaper to tour than South Africa or the UK diaspora shows most of our artists rely on.

It also sets a test. A support slot with Jason Derulo is a door, not a career. What comes next, a headline show of her own outside Zimbabwe, a regional collaboration or a fifth album that pushes past that 7.6, will show whether this weekend was a peak or a starting point. On her current pace, it looks more like the second.

Sources

Share
R
Written by

Rufaro