CHISENGA is a Grammy-recognised, Hip-Hop artist born in Zambia and now based in Perth, Australia.
Born in Lusaka on May 27th, his interest in performing began at the early age of 10. With time spent at home with his mother listening to country music and later, his step-dad grooving to classic soul music, he developed an appreciation and understanding for music that would later inspire the sound he would craft in years to come.
From the time he was recognised for releasing the first Hip-Hop album recorded and produced in his birth country Zambia. Officer in Charge was and still stands as one of the most successful Hip-Hop albums from that country. He introduced new acts and garnered local awards for best Hip-Hop artist. He was further introduced to Africa and the rest of the world through MTV Base and Channel-O, the two major African music channels that broadcast across Africa. His song The Fire Inside once took a No. 1 spot across Africa on both MTV Base and Channel-O charts, which earned him a Channel-O Video Music Award for Best Music Video, Southern Africa.
On his last travel to Africa, the rapper made a trip to Tanzania where he performed in front of 14 Southern African presidents at the 39th SADC (Southern African Development Community) summit. This has been one of the major highlights of his career as he competed against musicians and his song 'SADC (Throw Your Hands Up)' was selected as the winning song, beating 27 other entrants. More here: http://tiny.cc/t4eudz
The rapper has had several collaborations from appearing in Eminem's Higher music video to collaborating with Eminem affiliate KXNG Crooked fka Crooked I and Grammy winners Constantine who won a Grammy for his contribution to Dr. Dre's Gum Fiyah off The Defiant One's soundtrack and Marcus Paul who appears on several Anderson Paak songs where he handled the horn arrangements. The rapper has also worked with Perth rappers, Optamus, Verbalize, R. Williams, Severance and many more. He has also been getting several requests from the US and all the way to Africa so, expect to hear his voice on several records.
The rapper has a great sense for community networking and activity. Hence; he is now involved in a project supported by the Australian government called the Try, Test & Learn Fund with The World Music Cafe. The Multicultural Enterprise Development project is a joint initiative by the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre and Multicultural Futures offering people from migrant and refugee backgrounds an opportunity to gain new skills and industry experience creating a collective social enterprise. The new World Music Café enterprise initiative will be developed from August 2019 to June 2020 to deliver a series of independent cultural events across Perth. So far, so good. The World Music Cafe had a successful launch on 21st September, 2019.
Before recently re-branding to the name CHISENGA, the rapper was known as C.R.I.$.I.$ and then later became Crisis Mr. Swagger. He came up with the aliases at the age of 10. Meanwhile, he asserted himself as a world-class creative, trailblazer.
He released his Mixtape C.R.I.$.I.$ Presents The Diamond Chain and then later got picked up by Clavel Management while living in the UK, where he released the Grammy-recognised album, Designer in 2008.
Former writer turned lawyer Callum Twigger once wrote for The Music Magazine, "I never thought I'd see it: technically flawless east coast (of America) style Hip-Hop made by a Perth-based MC. That MC is Zambian-born, Perth based Crisis Mr. Swagger. The man raps like he was born doing it and his six-track EP feature's production so sharp you could cut yourself. Jesus Christ. I had to listen to Soul Train three times because I couldn't even believe it. The metaphors are complex, Swagger's samples are fearlessly independent of each other, there is little imitation and almost no repetition or recycling. Back to The Future, track one is a stand-out in particular."
DISCOGRAPHY
1. Officer In Charge (Album) 2005
2. C.R.I.$.I.$ Presents Diamond Chain (Album) 2006
3. Designer (Album) 2008
4. Mr. Swagger (Album) 2009
5. Business is Good (Album) 2010
6. The Fire Inside (Single) 2010
7. Soul Train (EP) 2012
8. That's The Way It Is (Single/Celine Dion Cover Song) 2014
9. The Quiet Don (2016)
10. Translation (Single) 2016
11. Tougher Than Leather (Single) 2016
12. Wild Thing (Single) Cover Song 2017
13. Purple Rain (Single) 2018
14. Crystal Palace (Single) 2018
15. Thriller (Single) Cover Song 2019
16. Winning (Single) 2019
17. Give Me Your Loving (Single) 2019
18. Copacabana (Single) 2019
19. Firebreather feat. Optamus (Single) TBA
20. Rhythm and Poetry - OUT NOW on all DSP's.
CHISENGA continues to rise into stardom and not only is he an artist. He is a socially responsible individual when he is not wearing his alter ego as the rapper & has a dream to build his Diamond Chain Media platform as he morphs into an all-encompassing lifestyle brand.
While keeping a balance of family life and work, the rapper show's no signs of slowing down. He has used the previous years to simply build a strong foundation; opening for acts such as Akon, Sean Paul, E-40, DJ Yella of NWA, Curtis Young (Dr. Dre's son) to networking with The D.O.C and furthering relationships with industry people off a stint in Los Angeles California, during his attendance of the Grammy's.
Since relocating to Perth, Australia he has taken the stage at WAMFEST, The Beaufort Street Festival, Battle of The Bands, State of The Art Festival and many more like making crowds congregate, throwing their hands up at a RAW Perth talent showcase. His partner in crime, Dancer/DJ/Musician; 80EM is an added piece of arsenal. Together, they are an unstoppable force. His team also consists of Indian born musician, Pace D Rapper and Young Xaviour.
The rapper has been rising to greater heights in recent years. He was quoted saying "It's always a matter of time and persistence. Any artist that plans to have a lasting career also has to learn to evolve with the time's and, thank God I'm a sponge and I will continue to adapt so... don't expect the same thing from CHISENGA."