CHEF 187’S BROKE NOLUNKUMBWA BECOMES FIRST ZAMBIAN HIP-HOP ALBUM TO HIT 6 MILLION SPOTIFY
Chef 187's Broke Nolunkumbwa sets new record in the Zambian hip-hop circles becomes biggest Zambian hip-hop album to hit 6 million Spotify streams
Two years on after it’s release on January 13, 2023 – Chef 187’s Broke Nolunkumbwa has set a record as the most streamed Zambian hip hop album on spotify. This is a record the album is going to hold for a quite long time. This achievement is a testament to the growth of Zambian music in general and how much more can be achieved.
Chef 187 whose real name is Kondwani Kaira had interest in music as early as the age of 5. He started recording music in 2005 but his rise to prominent fame came after a collaboration with his brother Macky 2 in 2011 on a track titled ‘I Am Hip-Hop.’
The 37-year-old rapper has focused on raping in his native language ‘Ichibemba’ but it’s his versatility that allows him to fuse different genres and language giving the artist’s magic spell that has caused his fans love him and his music.
The title ‘Broke Nolunkumbwa’ translates to a person who doesn’t have money but they wish they had, giving its theme in which the rapper is pictured dressed fancy with chains but in a shanty compound reflecting the message he sends on the album.
The album explores various topics affect the communities and set’s the record straight regarding his dominance in the hip-hop circles as he said on Pettyson Daka, “Kwaba ma rappers, but then kwaba talent ino.”
The album hit an all time high after it accumulated over 6,106,602 spotify streams as of 10th February 2025. With top 3 most streamed songs on the album being;
1. Nobody featuring Blake which accumulated over 921,000 spotify streams
2. Too Busy featuring Umusepela Crown & Ruth Ronnie which accumulated over 500,000 spotify streams
3. Ba Yubu featuring Jemax which accumulated over 460,000 spotify streams
It took the rapper 760 days to achieve this milestone. For now it is up to his industry peers to give the rapper a challenge. This achievement sets him a the biggest Zambian rapper to touch to ever walk on the Zambian soil.
Other achievements are 83.1 million boomplay streams, of which his album achieved 2 million streams in 17 hours. He is only second only to Yo Maps’ Try Again which has achieved over 13 million streams and 83.5 million streams on Spotify and Boomplay respectively. The rapper’s leading single on the album ‘Nobody featuring Blake’ hit 6.9 million YouTube views further illustrating his words influence.
At the 2023 Kwacha Music Awards, the album lost ‘Album of the Year’ to Yo Maps’ Try Again but won best hip-hop/rap song for his song Ba Yubu and best RnB fusion song for his song Nobody featuring Blake. The category for album of the year was highly contested with some highly influential industry names.
Chef 187 has defied the limits most critics said about how far Zambian hip-hop albums can go by setting the record with his Broke Nolunkumbwa album as most streamed album in that genre, seconded by Jemax’s The Boogeyman.
Two years on, the rapper has only released two singles ‘Spyling 2 featuring Immortal C’zar’ and ‘360 featuring James Sakala‘ which have been successful but his fans now await another full body of work.
