By CIC Entertainment.
JOE CHIBANGU – THE MUSIC AMBASSADOR
Joe Chibangu was born on 21st August 1975 in Ndola Zambia where he was also raised. He started doing music in 1995 after he was inspired by his dad who was a music producer and singer member of the Mulemena boys
His first singing gig was in 1995 where he was a singer at the Arabian nights in Kitwe at the EdenBurg hotel. He released his first album The Ambassador which helped bring him in to the limelight. His breakout song was when he did his hit single Nakupenda which received massive airplay. He was signed to Mondo Music Records. He was awarded the Best Male Award at the Azami Awards. He was also a two time nominee for the Best Male Southern Africa at the KORA Awards.
The Ambassador is a moniker that he earned from Mondo Music Corporation chief executive officer Chisha Folotiya. As the producer at The Facility in Makeni, Lusaka, he was indeed Mondo Music’s ambassador as he churned out a number of hits for many musicians such as his friend Jordan Katembula (JK), Tribal Cousins, Shatel, Black Muntu, Tasila Mwale and Nalu.
Mondo Music is among the institutions to be credited with the renaissance of Zambian music.
For Mondo Music, they owe most of their hits to The Ambassador, who was introduced to them by Mainza Chipenzi.
He was very hardworking as well as a good person. Like many who were pioneering the renaissance of local music, he taught himself how to use the computer software. he paved the way for the current crop of musicians.
While working as a producer with Mondo, Joe had released an album titled The Ambassador, which was good enough to earn him a Kora Award nomination for Best Artiste “South Africa”.
The most notable songs from that album are perhaps Ba Mudala, Nakupenda and Chikashana featuring Alubusu.
Nevertheless, his best work was undoubtedly producing JK’s self-titled phenomenal debut album, the first album by a solo musician under Mondo Music. It was a gamble Mondo was taking after experiencing success with Shatel and Black Muntu (Mwembe Chulu and Leo Bweupe).
But the risk paid dividends as the album went on to shatter so many records.
As a producer, The Ambassador had arrived, and Zambian music confirmed its renaissance.
He had experimented with the kalindula sound on JK’s album to such great effect as evidenced on the song Bana Malama, a revamped version of Laban Kalunga’s Bashi Malama.
He was at the forefront of using the now much-derided computers in producing the music. But make no mistake, when The Ambassador worked on the songs, the sound was really good.
The Ambassador was exposed to public performances at a tender age of 13 when he performed in churches and schools. He is said to have written his first song at the age of 15. After he completed his grade 12 in 1994 in Ndola, he chose to pursue music full-time. He went to a musical school in Kitwe where he learned keyboard as well as to read and write music.
He was part of the Rap Prophets, who were among the first rap groups to gain popularity and used to feature on Sounds Good. He came to Lusaka in 1997 and joined the versatile B-Sharp band with which he toured the country.
With the B-Sharp, he was able to perform alongside the likes of Ackim Simukonda, Maureen Lilanda and Maria Nkhoma.
His first engineering experience was at Feedback Studio in 1998 before going to Mondo in 1999.
The ambassador was truly an ambassador of his era, when the history of Zambia’s music renaissance is written, it will be incomplete without the mention of Joe Chibangu. He was there when it all began.
History will never erase his great contribution to the development of the music industry in Zambia as his works will continue to speak for themselves.
Died 3 February 2017