Zambia’s rapper, singer, and poet Denise Chaila is a 27-year-old woman who is Irish and Zambian from Chikankata, Zambia. At the age of three, she moved from Zambia to Ireland, and in a recent interview, she explained how it was difficult to grow up around people she could not relate to culturally or physically. Denise’s name holds weight for rapping about sexism and explaining her Zambian-Irish identity over grime beats. In 2020 she released her debut mixtape titled, Go Bravely, where she showcased her talent on hip hop, Afrobeats, and dancehall beats. The mixtape was such a success that she was nominated for Ireland’s Choice Music prize for best album and best song for the track “Chaila”. Chaila says in a recent interview, “Go Bravely was my affirmation: irrespective of your history or your trauma, or the fears you have about the future, or what sort of musician you think you should be, just be brave and meet the moment.” You can hear the confidence in her voice and her positivity through her hit song titled “Chaila”. Below you can find the video of Denise performing the “Chaila”, on The Late Late Show.
The song is about herself and showing people how to pronounce her name correctly. In the first verse, she raps about being nonbinary and saying her name is not hard to pronounce. Throughout the song, I could tell she is tired of people mispronouncing her name because she spells it out in the song. The overall song is catchy and she is rapping over a fun beat. I enjoyed watching the performance and I could tell that making music is her passion. I’m excited to see what else she creates and how she will contribute to the hip-hop community. Denise Chaila is a confident Zambian woman who makes music exuding her confidence and self-empowerment. You can listen to her mixtape on all streaming services.
Below you can find Denise’s Social Media: