Zone Fam was a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

supergroup based in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, composed of Sam Sakala (Dope G), Jackson Banda (Jay Rox), Reginald Lube (Yung Verbal), and previously Timbwama Chisenga (FKA Thugga now known as Tim) until his departure from the group on April 1, 2015. It was a collective of solo artists that frequented "Zone Studios" started by Duncan Sodala also known as Holstar and Kati Kawanu in 2006. Zone Fam Officially became a Rap group in 2009 after recording "The Full Script" Mixtape with Nigerian producer Teck-zilla. They gained popularity after the release of their debut album single ''Shaka Zulu On Em'' which received nationwide airplay, topping radio charts and got worldwide reviews off

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In 2011 they went on and released their first studio album, ''The Business: Foreign Exchange'', which was the bestseller of that year. In 2012, Zone Fam signed their first international deal under record label Taurus Musik of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, which helped them produce songs several songs and visuals namely, ''Translate'', "Da Bidness" and ''Contolola,'' which won them a Channel O Award at the

Channel O Music Video Awards Channel O Africa Music Video Awards, once known as Spirit of Africa Music Video Awards, are Pan-African music awards organised by South Africa -based Channel O television channel. The awards were first held in 2003 under the name Reel Music Video A ...

for Best Group. They also have to their name the award for Best African Group at the ''Global African Music Awards''. The group is currently disbanded and was managed by Duncan Sodala between 2009 and 2014 - He also manages the Zone Fam brand.

Musical style

The majority of Zone Fam songs incorporate

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

. However, their rap is a combination of English, Bemba

Nyanja Chewa ( ; also known as Nyanja ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for languages, so the language is often called or Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name wa ...

and Zulu languages.

Current members

* Holstar (Duncan Sodala) Founding member and Manager * Dope G (Sam Sakala) * Jay Rox (Jackson Banda) * Yung Verbal (Reginald Lube)

Past members

* MAK (born Monde Kawana) * Al Kan-I (born Mutale Kani) * Thugga (born Tim Chisenga)

Discography

* The Full Script (Mixtape) (2010) * The Business: Foreign Exchange (2011)

References

# Nov 10, 2013 https://www.news24.com/drum/archive/zone-fam-20170728 # Sep 24, 2014 https://www.okayafrica.com/zone-fam-two-things-barcode-video-zambia/ # Apr 8, 2015 https://www.lusakatimes.com/2015/04/08/zone-fam-member-issues-statement-about-the-departure-of-former-member-thugga/ # Aug 17, 2014 http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/zone-fam-dangerous-grounds/ # Oct 19, 2013 https://www.lusakavoice.com/2013/10/19/zone-fams-just-ride-is-enjoying-a-slot-on-channel-o-africa-10/ # 14 March 2014 http://www.hypemagazine.co.za/2014/03/exclusive-zone-fam-way-forward/ hypeMag # 5 May 2011 https://ladybrille.com/ladybrille-music-zambias-zone-fam-shaka-zulu-on-em-video/ # 18 Jun 2014 https://www.nyasatimes.com/zambias-zone-fam-excited-to-perform-in-malawi/ # 13 Oct 2011 http://www.chanters-livingstone.com/zone-fam-mean-business/ # 17 July 2012 https://www.lusakatimes.com/2012/07/17/zone-fam-cq-signed-taurus-musik-based-kenya/ # 31 Jan 2012 https://www.lusakatimes.com/2012/01/31/zone-fam-wins-global-music-awards-african-group-2011/ # 2 Dec 2013 https://www.lusakatimes.com/2013/12/02/zone-fam-win-channel-o-award/

External links

* {{Authority control Zambian musical groups Hip-hop groups Living people 2009 establishments in Zambia Musical groups established in 2009 Year of birth missing (living people)