SOMETHING'S COMING: MEET THE BLACK SHEEP PUTTING ZAMBIA ON THE MAP

EL MUKUKA – THE PIONEERING DJ BREAKING MUSICAL AND CULTURAL BOUNDARIES

WHEN WE THINK HOUSE MUSIC, WE DON’T USUALLY THINK ABOUT ZAMBIA. NOPE. NEVER. DEFINITELY NOT. IT WOULD BE AT THE END OF THE LIST LIKE Z’S AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ALPHABET. OR JUST NOT ON OUR RADAR AT ALL.

ENTER ELEFTHERIOS MUKUKA – STAGE NAME EL MUKUKA – ZAMBIA’S 24-YEAR OLD DJ PRODUCER PUTTING ZAMBIA ON THE HOUSE MUSIC MAP.

*A GOOD LOOKING ARTIST? AS IF THE WORLD NEEDED MORE OF THOSE. SHOT IN LUSAKA FOR THE TRAVEL SERIES BY PR GIRL MEDIA*

YOU MIGHT SAY ELEFTHERIOS? THAT DOESN’T SOUND THE LEAST BIT ZAMBIAN. WELL, THAT’S BECAUSE IT’S NOT. OK – LET’S REWIND A BIT.

THE LANDLOCKED REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA, SITUATED IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, HAS A POPULATION OF 14.5 MILLION PEOPLE SUPPORTING 73 DIFFERENT TRIBES. MUKUKA’S DAD, FROM THE BEMBA TRIBE, AND HIS MOTHER, FROM GREECE, RAISED HIM IN ZAMBIA, BUT AFTER HIS PARENTS SPLIT, HE WAS BROUGHT UP IN A GREEK HOME IN ZAMBIA.

WHEN HE WAS YOUNG, HIS MOTHER TRIED TO GIVE HIM AND HIS TWO YOUNGER SISTERS WHAT SHE NEVER HAD: THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY MUSIC. “WHEN MY MOM WAS A KID, SHE NEVER WAS ABLE TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT EVEN THOUGH SHE WANTED TO BECAUSE HER FAMILY COULDN’T AFFORD IT AND MANY TIMES SHE WAS EVEN TOO SCARED TO ASK HER DAD TO GET HER A MUSIC TEACHER. SO SHE MADE AN EFFORT FOR US TO HAVE THAT GROWING UP.”

AFTER TRYING SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS, FROM KEYS TO STRINGS, HE DRIFTED AWAY FROM INSTRUMENTS AND LIKE MOST TEENAGE BOYS, AND FOUND AN INTEREST IN RAP MUSIC. BEING INFLUENCED BY THE LIKES OF EMINEM AND DRE, HE GAINED POPULARITY WITH HIS MUSIC, HAVING A COUPLE TRACKS PLAYED ON THE RADIO, BUT ALSO WENT INTO A DIRECTION THAT HE FOUND DID MORE HARM THAN GOOD. “MY RAP MUSIC WAS EXTREMELY VULGAR. I DIDN’T LIKE THAT. I THINK THAT AS AN ARTIST THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS ADD TO THE POSITIVITY IN THIS WORLD AND NOT THE OPPOSITE. THERE’S ENOUGH NEGATIVE SHIT GOING ON.” HE ADDED, “I FELT IT WASN’T ALLOWING ME TO EXPRESS MYSELF ENOUGH. THE GENRE OF RAP MUSIC SORT OF CONFINED ME TO THIS LITTLE BOX, THIS LITTLE SPACE. I WASN’T ABLE TO DO WHAT I WANTED WITH IT.”

SHOT BY **ALEXANDRA BAIER** AT **CORAL ROCK HOTEL**

WHILE FALLING OUT OF THE RAP GAME, MUKUKA FELL BACK IN LOVE WITH CLASSICAL PIANO AND DECIDED TO STUDY MUSIC COMPOSITION AND ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION AT THE BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC IN BOSTON, THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT COLLEGE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN THE WORLD. “BERKLEE OPENED MY EYES TO THE WORLD OF MUSIC. IT WAS LIKE BEING IN A MUSICAL WONDERLAND,” HE SHARED. THIS IS WHEN HE WAS INTRODUCED TO A NEW LOVE: WORLD MUSIC.

AS NOTED BY CARL RAHKONEN, “WORLD MUSIC MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.” IT MIGHT BE BEST TO START OFF BY DESCRIBING BY WHAT IT IS NOT. “IT IS NOT WESTERN ART MUSIC, NEITHER IS IT MAINSTREAM WESTERN FOLK OR POPULAR MUSIC.” TO MUKUKA, “I UNDERSTAND IT AS BEING TRADITIONAL MUSIC COMING FORM VARIOUS CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD THAT OFTEN INCORPORATES THE USE OF TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS OR SIMPLY THE USE OF WESTERN INSTRUMENTS BUT IN ALTERNATIVE WAYS.”

THROUGH WORLD MUSIC, HE WAS ABLE TO BRIDGE HIS ZAMBIAN AND GREEK ROOTS TOGETHER.

BUT HALFWAY THROUGH HIS DEGREE, HE HIT A ROADBLOCK WHEN HE COULD NO LONGER AFFORD TO CONTINUE. “I WAS VERY SAD TO LEAVE BOTH COLLEGE AND MY FRIENDS. I MET SO MANY TALENTED PEOPLE, BOTH PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS…” ONE OF THOSE STUDENTS INCLUDES THE VERY TALENTED KAYLA JACOBS, WHO HE LATER COLLABORATED WITH ON MANY OF HIS TRACKS – ONE OF WHICH YOU ARE ALREADY LISTENING TO IF YOU HIT PLAY AT THE TOP OF THE ARTICLE.

WITH HIS HEAD HELD HIGH, MUKUKA LEFT BOSTON TO RETURN TO HIS HOME IN ZAMBIA WHERE HE CONTINUED TO EXPERIMENT WITH BOTH HOUSE AND WORLD MUSIC. IT BECAME THE PERFECT WAY TO FUSE MUKUKA’S TWO WORLDS TOGETHER.

SINCE HE STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH HOUSE MUSIC IN 2009, EL MUKUKA HAS PLAYED AT SOME OF THE BIGGEST FESTIVALS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, SUCH AS THE VIC FALLS CARNIVAL, R&G OKTOBERFEST, BAREFEET MUSIC FESTIVAL, SIAVONGA MUSIC FESTIVAL AND THE ZANZIBAR B&W FESTIVAL. HE’S ALSO PLAYED ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE TOP PLAYERS IN THE REGION SUCH AS GOLDFISH, GOODLUCK, JOE MFALME AND PROFESSOR. EARLIER THIS YEAR, HE TEAMED UP WITH SPANISH RECORD LABEL BLANCO Y NEGRO FOR BOTTLE OF LONELINESS, WHICH IS NOW CHARTING ON MAXIMA FM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST RADIO STATIONS IN SPAIN.

BUT IT HASN’T COME WITHOUT ITS CHALLENGES. “SOMETIMES, I FEEL LIKE A BLACK SHEEP IN ZAMBIA BECAUSE I’M THE ONLY EXCLUSIVE HOUSE PRODUCER DJ.” HE EXPLAINED, “THERE’S A LOT OF DJS, THERE’S NOT MANY DJ PRODUCERS. BUT I’M THE ONLY DJ PRODUCER THAT ONLY DOES HOUSE MUSIC.”

WHICH HAS ITS DOWNFALLS. “NOT EVERYONE LIKES HOUSE MUSIC IN ZAMBIA. IT’S STILL A GENRE THAT IS GROWING BUT I GUESS THAT’S SOMETHING EVERY PIONEER HAS TO GO THROUGH.”

AND HE’S ALREADY STARTED PAVING HIS OWN PATH, NAILING A SPONSORSHIP WITH HEINEKEN FOR HIS TOUR CALLED THE “SOMETHING’S COMING TOUR.” THE TOUR IS NAMED AFTER HIS LATEST SINGLE FEATURING JACOBS, RELEASED YESTERDAY BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC SOUTH AFRICA.

“IT’S MY FIRST DIRECT MAJOR RECORD LABEL SIGNING. IT’S REALLY COOL TO HAVE AN AFRICAN MAJOR LABEL BEING THE FIRST TO WORK WITH BECAUSE AFRICA IS MY HOME. THATS WHERE I WAS BORN AND RAISED.”

HE PLAYED “SOMETHING’S COMING” AT CORAL ROCK HOTEL, THE SECOND STOP ON HIS TOUR, SUNDAY NIGHT, AND PUT THE INTIMATE CROWD IN A TRANCE WITH HIS UPLIFTING BEAT, MELODIC VOCALS AND BEAUTIFUL HARMONIES.