Tyla on ‘Toolz Talks’: Thulane ‘Toolz’ Hadebe chats about new podcast

Joburg lifestyle content creator Thulane “Toolz” Hadebe features megastar Tyla in his latest Vlogmas holiday version of his Yes It’s Me, Toolz YouTube channel.

Vlogmas features humorous clips which introduce Tyla’s exclusive event at Coke Studios in Johannesburg last Wednesday for streaming platform Spotify.

The 22-year-old award-winning singer performed this past weekend to sold-out shows in Cape Town and Pretoria. Due to overwhelming demand, her Tyla SA tour put on an additional date at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on January 18.

“I met Tyla in June 2023 when she was here for (Spotify’s) Greasy Tunes,” Thulane told TimesLIVE.

“That's when she first debuted her song Water, which went on to become a Grammy award-winning track.

“She told me she had about 70 to 80 songs she had recorded, and she had to narrow them down. Then she played Water for us, and I knew it was going to be an instant hit and she would one day be a global superstar.”

The Joburg-born singer and style icon has enjoyed a banner year, garnering many international awards, including at the Grammys, the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, Samas, Billboard and BET Awards.

As a food and travel influencer and Beyoncé superfan, Thulane flew 17,000km to Los Angeles to see his idol perform at her Renaissance tour in September 2023.

“I will be in the US around my birthday (in September), around the same time I was there for Beyoncé. Hopefully, Beyoncé will announce something in the near future that gives me some guideline dates to book flights and air tickets.

“One of my upcoming projects is Toolz Talks, my podcast, which should officially be out next year. It’s a podcast about experiences and life stories I’ve been through, that I hope listeners and viewers will be able to resonate with and relate to.

“We talk about my career, about grief, we talk about navigating the world as a gay black man. Those are the kind of topics I’ll be addressing on my podcast.

“I have an upcoming web series on my YouTube channel called Toolz Taco Tuesday, where some of our favourite celebrities and influencers come to my home, we make cocktails, and then we have a bit of a chat.

“I put them in fun scenarios, and I want to hear how they would react, almost like a game we would play. It's a live show where I have audience interaction. It’s very much like Watch What Happens Live meets Wendy Williams meets The View kind of thing.

“Now that there’s another concert in Pretoria in January, let’s hope Tyla can come by beforehand and be one of my first guests for Taco Tuesday”.