Anjimile Chithambo, better known under the mononym Anjimile, is an American folk musician from Boston, Massachusetts.

Early life and career

Anjimile was born in 1993 and raised in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

before eventually moving to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. Growing up, they started playing guitar at 11, and sang in choirs starting in the fifth grade and continuing until college. Their early musical influence came through listening to their dad's Oliver Mtukudzi albums in the car, and early Sufjan Stevens. Later influences were getting sober and connecting with their Black Malawian roots. Anjimile identified as a lesbian for 10 years, before coming out as trans. They self-describe as "queer/trans/boy king" and use both they/them and he/him pronouns. Anjimile began writing songs when they were a music industry student at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North C ...

, and wrote most of their most recent album ''Giver Taker'' while in rehab in Florida in 2016, where they got sober. In 2018, they entered NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert contest, and a panel from Boston affiliate WBUR named them the best entrant from Massachusetts. The following year, a Live Arts Boston grant from a pair of local non-profit foundations gave them the budget to make ''Giver Taker''. The album was awarded one of the best 50 albums of 2020. Anjimile released their first full-length album in 2020 titled ''Giver Taker'' on Father/Daughter Records. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Anjimile is an "artist you need to know" and their song "Baby No More" was a "Song You Need To Know" by the magazine. Anjimile was also Consequence of Sound's Artist of the Month". Prior to releasing the full-length album, Anjimile had self-produced and released numerous albums of their own.

Discography

As lead artist

*'' Giver Taker'' (Father/Daughter, 2020) *''Reunion'' (Father/Daughter, 2021)

As featured artist

* ''The Baby Reimagined'' (Grand Jury, 2021) * ''How Many More Times'' (Father/Daughter, 2021) * ''Why The Wild Things Are'' (HipStory 2019)

References

{{reflist American folk musicians Transgender singers Non-binary singers Musicians from Dallas Musicians from Boston Father/Daughter Records artists LGBT African Americans American LGBT singers LGBT people from Texas 1993 births Living people 21st-century American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century LGBT people