WE BLEW UP WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER RELEASING OUR 4TH SONG “BELLA,” CHANDA NA KAY TOLD BBC – THIS IS AFRICA 

PLEASE NOTE: This article is an adaptation from BBC Sounds’ This Is Africa hosted by DJ Edu for a special edition focused on Zambia tittled “Zambia Ku Chalo” part two.

Edwin Ochieno, popularly known as DJ Edu, is a host of BBC 1Xtra’s AfroSounds show, which showcases talent from across Africa. In this edition, he explores Zambian music. After talking to Roberto, DJ Twizie, and Mag 44 in PART ONE , due to popular recommendations from fellow artists, he meets with Chanda Na Kay at their studio in Kamwala South.

The episode started with a mini recap and an introductory message from DJ Edu, “Welcome to the second of our three special editions of This Is Africa from Zambia, aka the real Africa.”

[RECAP – Mag 44 playing in the background]: “Last week on TIA, producer Mag 44 talked about the emergency of a sound that is proudly Zambian and who is making it, and this week, we are checking it out!” – BBC’s DJ Edu continued his introduction.

BBC’S DJ EDU MEETS CHANDA NA KAY AT THEIR STUDIO IN LUSAKA’S KAMWALA SOUTH 

While heading to Kamwala to meet up with Chanda na Kay, DJ Edu shared an introduction to the artists he was meeting, he said, “Hey my people, this is DJ Edu from the BBC and we are in Lusaka, Zambia and we’ve come to this hood called Kamwala South where there is a group called Chanda na Kay. And everyone we’ve gone to or spoken to has been talking about these kids. They are from the Copperbelt part of Zambia, and they’ve got a very exciting genre of music that we need to explore, so come with me.”

He continued, “Chanda na Kay have been making hits and winning awards since 2021 and are in high demand, the duo has collaboration with most of Zambian music royalty including Slapdee, Roberto, Yo Maps and Jae Cash, as well as Congolese artist Majoos. They are great performers, and their music goes hand in hand with distinctive dance routines.”

“When I caught up with them in their home studio, they were listening to a brand new song,” he added.

DJ Edu then sat with Chanda na Kay and their producer, and then he asked them to introduce themselves.

Chanda, ” Oww, Iwe, Mwikate! Bafika banyoli nyoli!”

Kay, “Abama dega notu sembe.”

Chanda, “Selako!”

Chanda na Kay, “Wapya Chanda na Kay!”

Chanda with a calm voice, “This is Kay and Chanda.”

DJ Edu, “This Chanda na Kay, and where is NA?” (They all laugh as one of them says THE PRODUCER)

(In the background, an unreleased song by Chanda na Kay was playing); DJ Edu continued, “So there is some amazing sound playing here in the studio. What is this?”

Kay responded, “First of all, you know English is not our first language, so we just have to make sure we let you know in advance. OK, so this is new music we are working on. It’s kopala, it’s a sound from the Copperbelt called kopala but we’ve also given it another name called Zaolo music because it has to recorded with a huge crowd, maybe four or more people.”

Kay continued, “We start with the chants and most of the time we are with a lot of people in the studio so when we do the chants, what happens is when Chanda starts doing his rap, everyone will be like (cheering) hey you are skilled. So I’ll be like, let me also challenge him, then it’s my turn. When I do, they clap. He does, they clap, you know. It goes like that, but by the time we realize, we find that the song is already done.”

DJ Edu, “And is it popular in(on) the Copperbelt?”

Chanda, “That much, bubi saana, yeah, it’s very popular, yeah.”

Kay then added to Chanda response, “And you know the thing is we didn’t even take long to like blow up, it just took like, I think 30 days because we were dropping a new song every Sunday. So the fourth Sunday, we dropped the fourth song,’BELLA’, it’s called Bella, and that was our biggest song.”

DJ Edu then turned to Chanda na Kay’s producer MASSIVE (or Mass On This) and asked him what elements he uses on the Chanda na Kay songs.

Producer Massive responded, “The main focus to the sound for Chanda na Kay is the drums, snare and base, and it’s influenced by the Copperbelt, Copperbelt culture, the dances, yeah.”

DJ Edu, “And when you are producing for them, how is it when you are working together? How do you come up with the rhythms and the vibes? What’s happening in the studio?”

Producer Massive responded, “Oh, the guys would come up with the chorus, yes, and then I’d process the chorus and then come up with the rhythm for the song.”

DJ Edu then turned back to Chanda na Kay and asked about the chants that are in their songs, to which Kay responded, “So what makes our music different from other music is the chants infant. We don’t do chorus and verses. We do chants like continuously, then we put, I can say small verses in between the chants.”

He continued, “So like, for dance with you, we were chanting about I WANT TO DANCE WITH YOU.”

Chanda added, “The song was all about dancing, I want to dance with you.”

Kay, “There is also junior Lwala, it talks about a rich man, a very young rich man on the Copperbelt, so we were just praising him like yoh, he’s the boss. So the chants were like Junior na lwala, like he’s sick, he has a lot of cash. Don’t think when I say ‘sick’ I mean he’s sick, on the Copperbelt when you say he’s sick, it means he’s the best.”

DJ Edu, “So Chanda, your voice is very unique, and your dance moves. Does the music always have to come with a dance, or can there be one without the other?”

Chanda responded, “No, it works together, the dances and the music.”

DJ Edu, “And who comes up with the dances?”

Chanda na Kay responded, complimenting each other, “You know it’s a team work thing, he comes up with maybe a move, I say no, let’s change it a bit. I also come up with a move. He says ok that’s perfect, but let’s do it the other way round.”

DJ Edu then asked the duo why they moved from Lusaka to come and settle in Lusaka to which Kay responded, “You know business, you look at business maybe lets say a company calls, oh we need you for a meeting tomorrow at 9am, so once you say no I’m still on the Copperbelt, can I like make… you even hear the person giving it to another artist so we had to move closer to where the business is, so we noticed that on the Copperbelt (“no business” says Chanda) year it’s slow.”

DJ Edu complimented by saying the Copperbelt is a bit far acknowledging their reasoning behind their change of place. They then went ahead and discussed their colourful clothing choices, to which the duo said it was part of their identity.

DJ Edu then wanted to find out why the Copperbelt is very popular, Chanda na Kay responded, saying that it is attributed to its creativity and unity among creatives.

DJ Edu and Chanda na Kay concluded their interview as they discussed how much other Zambian artist want to incorporate the kopala sound and it’s possibility to surpass amapiano and Afrobeats as Kay said all they need is “support,” to penetrate other markets.

DJ Edu next mission was a conversation with Zambian rapper Xaven. Click here to read it.