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Wanz | |
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.jpg) Wanz at theUniversity of San Francisco, 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | TeeWanz |
| Born | Michael Wansley (1961-10-09)October 9, 1961 (age 64) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
| Website | thewanz |
Michael "Mike"Wansley (born October 9, 1961),[1] better known by hisstage namesWanz andTeeWanz, is an AmericanR&B singer. He performs in various genres, includingrock, R&B,soul,hip-hop, andpop. He was featured on fellowSeattle-based duoMacklemore & Ryan Lewis' international hit single "Thrift Shop", which received twoGrammy Awards forBest Rap Performance andBest Rap Song.
Wansley started performing in church, school, and on the street. He was introduced to jazz and pop music early and studied jazz at school. He has been performing since the early 1980s.[2] At 21, he formed a band called Boys Will Be Boys. Their repertoire included covers, includingINXS songs.[3] In the early 1990s Wansley went on to become the bass player in the Seattle bandThe Rangehoods, taking over for Bruce Hewes. He also was the bass player and singer for the original hard-funk band, Lifering, with David Scott Cameron on guitar, Jeff Stone on guitar, and David Nielsen on drums. He later on fronted a band called the Ghetto Monks and saw some success.[4] He sanghooks in recordings by D. Sane and Street Level Records for a decade. He also took part in the summer of 2011 in the operaPorgy and Bess.[5]
Wanz graduated from Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington. Prior to the break-out performance of "Thrift Shop", Wanz was a full-timesoftware test engineer[1] for companies such asMicrosoft,Adapx, and Volt.[6][7] Sane called him and introduced him to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to do the hook for "Thrift Shop" in 2012. Wanz has toured with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and performed with them onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show,Late Night with Jimmy Fallon andSaturday Night Live.[4] He is also featured in the official music video of the song. Wanz has written a book about a series of sayings he has coined over the years, to be called#The Book of Wanz[1] and has a Ted Talk called "You Too Can Be Your Own Unicorn".
In 2015, Wansley returned to his career as a quality-assurance engineer for the software companyTableau and has been working with at-risk youth and other causes as well as working on new music.[7]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1991[8] | Long Way Home (The Rangehoods) |
| 1999[9] | High Steppin' (Ghetto Monks) |
| Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [10] | US Alt. [11] | US R&B [12] | US Rap [13] | AUS [14] | CAN [15] | FRA [16] | GER [17] | IRL [18] | NZ [19] | |||||
| "Thrift Shop" (Macklemore &Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz) | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | The Heist | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
