I was born in Lusaka Zambia. I spent the early part of my life in Lusaka but then moved around as my parents circumstances changed. Before leaving high school I'd lived in four towns: Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone and Mkushi, The latter is situated in Central Zambia and I spent five years there at a boarding school. After leaving school I was heavily involved in the rap world in Lusaka as a rapper and show organiser. I first visited Jo'burg in 1994 with a close friend who was also in a sense my mentor - a guy named Alan Mvula. This was the month after Nelson Mandela was voted in as President of a newly democratic South Africa. Alan and I rapped at a few nightclubs while in Jo'burg before going back to Lusaka. Upon returning to Zambia, we carried on with our rap hustle but a couple of years later I got a bit disillusioned as we didn't have much to show for from all our endeavours. In 1996 a radio station opened up. It was Zambia's 1st privately owned FM station. I got a job at Radio Phoenix as a presenter and later was appointed Acting Station Manager. I left late in 1998 and travelled to Jo'burg where I'd enrolled as a full time student at the AAA School of Advertising. The course took 3 years to complete. Other opportunities opened up in Jo'burg and I stayed on.
When did you first decide to get involved in music making. Do you recall the first song that sparked your interest?
As kids, my brothers and I would mess around - making up songs as kids do, to amuse ourselves with. TV played a role in shaping my musical dreams. Local TV aired a show called The Jacksons which starred among others a young Michael Jackson. Then later a series called Kids Incorporated which starred among others a young Rahsaan Patterson and Fergie from Black Eyed Peas. I think it was after watching the Breakdance movie Breakin' that the rap bug bit. I wrote my first rap when I was about 10.
It seems like you've taken an unconventional path to where you are today as a tv presenter, voice over artist, and musician. Where's the connection and how do you manage the workload?
Prior to joining Radio Phoenix I was really all about making music. Once I joined the station, other opportunities within media began to open up. So, from being a radio presenter, soon enough I was roped in to doing internal voiceovers for the station before ad agencies noticed my budding talent in that sphere. The next opportunities where to do with being master of ceremonies. I've been facing crowds since I was a kid: from being a member of my primary school drama club to rapping for audiences. Being an MC at events wasn't so hard. I kept carving my skills with each event. My first taste at presenting on television was as a guest on Channel O while I was still working at Radio Phoenix. So over the years I've done a bit of everything with music being the area that I wish I'd have done more of. I'm enjoying making music again. Hopefully there'll be opportunities to perform this year. I have an agent that helps me a great deal with sourcing voice work and managing my diary and such. They keep me hecticly busy which leaves little time to plan performances to help advance my musical 'crusade'.
Given your extensive experience in entertainment, what's your take on the current state of the music industry particularly in Zambia and South Africa? How do you see it growing in the future?
Music channels are allowing us to take a peak at what others in various regions across the continent are doing. It's a beautiful thing. The challenge sometimes though is that the channels give airplay to tried and tested music making formulas. So where do the mavericks get their music aired? That's the nature of the commercial side of music I suppose. The unfortunate part is that in the quest to get heard, artists will begin to make music that isn't totally original because originality is perceived as a poisoned chalice if one wishes to get heard. I have a feeling that online platforms will become stronger in terms of influence because the commercial agenda isn't as big an issue. In terms of Zambian music - it's doing well but the country needs more flag bearers to give a strong showing internationally. Hip Hop group Zone Fam stand out in that respect. We're yet to get to the stage where many Zambian artists are household names regionally even. Think of the DRC and off the top of my head I can name at least ten mega acts even though I'm not necessarily a fan of Rhumba music. Zambians are making some really good music and an appreciation of local music has never been healthier - at least not in my lifetime. The South African music scene is very different. There's a Kwaito scene, a Rock scene, a Motswako Hip Hop scene, a House scene etc. Each genre is big enough to support its own. If one is keeping an eye on the Hip hop scene, you may notice that some SA acts are actively looking to have an influence across the rest of the continent for starters by collaborating with widely know Nigerian acts. However the industry in SA can allow them to be financially steady without a continental mission. Will the hip hop world in SA produce stars that conquer the continent the way Yvonne Chaka Chaka (the Princess of Africa) or Brenda Fassie did in the 80's? I think that's possible… for SA as it is for Zambia.
Take us through the creative process behind your single "Njota". Inspiration, production, featured artists, etc…
Njota was a song that hatched in my mind as I was driving. For some reason at a moment that I don't recall with utmost clarity, I realised that the Nyanja word for thirst (Njota) rhymed with the English word for the remedy to thirst (water). That's how the song started getting constructed. I had lyrics to another song about a girls life that I'd been writing and so thought of merging the two ideas. I narrated the idea to producer TK and he made the beat. My album co Exec Producer Inyambo Imenda from The Studio Next Door and I started trying to get a feature artist. Inyambo suggested Zubz and he brought his A-game onto it. A few month after we released the CD, TK worked on a remix with young producers Sebastian Dutch and Drill (AfroJaiva) which radio in Zambia latched onto.
You clearly experimented with different genres of music on your project, "Flowers, Needles & Drumbeats". However there is an underlying essence of soul throughout the album. Would you agree with that assessment? If so, what musical influences played a major role in choosing the direction you took with the album?
I agree. Inyambo is one of the most musically gifted individuals I know and his fingerprints are all over the project as kind of the gate keeper. The core team was my wife Carol, Inyambo (Nyamz), Timothy Siame and Offie Nxumalo. The idea was to, even with the variety, still manage to keep the music sounding like it's a family of songs: to create music that will have a long shelf life.
What do you aim to express to the world as an artist? What's your overall purpose for music?
Music is important. Within 3 to 4 minutes one can pack rhetoric into a song, outline ones world view, share fears and ask probing questions about matters concerning society; profess love etc. Carvings in caves from thousands of years ago are being discovered today. The music I make will live on after I die and my thinking is that for my kids and the next generations after mine, there'll be an account of what I was all about. It's the digital equivalent of carvings in a cave for those in the future to know that there was once a fella named Chilu on the planet.
Are there any projects or tours coming up in the near future that you can share with the AfroMuzik community?
Yet to be confirmed but will definitely share with AfroMuzik. Hopefully the acoustic show will be in the months to come.'
How can fans best stay connected with you?
Twitter @chilulemba, Soundcloud.com/chilulemba, Facebook.com/chilulemba, and Instagram @chilulemba
Thank you so much Chilu for taking the time out of your busy schedule to hang out with us here AfroMuzik. We hope to welcome you back with us soon!
Thank you! It's an honour.