Name: Why Kopala is Zambias very own take on Afrobeats
Uploaded: 2025-10-29T18:09:39.605Z
Duration: 5 min 19 s
Description: Zambian duo, Chanda Na Kay, mixed music and poetry to share social messages. With their smooth dance moves, they created Zambia’s own Afrobeats style, “Kopala”.

Zambian duo, Chanda Na Kay, mixed music and poetry to share social messages. With their smooth dance moves, they created Zambia’s own Afrobeats style, “Kopala”.

Lusaka

Kopala, a dynamic music and dance genre originating from Zambia's Copperbelt, merges elements of Afrobeats, Amapiano, and traditional Bemba drums. Artists such as Edward Chanda and Kelvin Simfukwe, known as Chanda Nakei, have played a significant role in popularizing the genre, which quickly gained traction through local support and digital distribution.

With Zambia’s youthful population and limited traditional employment opportunities, the internet has become a vital tool for young creatives to share their work and build audiences. Kopala’s energetic style and cultural roots are now reaching international listeners, with artists aspiring to perform on major global stages. While challenges remain in monetizing creative content, the movement continues to showcase Zambia’s rich artistic landscape.

Why Kopala is Zambia's very own take on Afrobeats

Why have these moves taken the internet by storm? You know that a music genre truly arrives when a dance defines it and a movement takes hold. Across Zambia, the dynamic fusion of Afro beats, Amapiano and Bemba drums, that is kopala, is sparking what might be the next stage in Africa's music and dance evolution. It's in Dongolo, it's Dongolo drums, but we call it kopala sounds because it's from the copper belt. So the dancers moved along with the, like the new sound, yes, so it just moved along, but it has always been there. How exactly did kopala break out from the copper belt to Lusaka and the world stage? Edward Chanda and Kelvin Simfukwe, known as Chanda Nakei, have become synonymous with kopala's explosive sound and energetic dance. Their music developed from freestyle rapping. There's something people don't know about us, we blew up in 30 days. We used to record on Saturday, then drop it early in the morning on Sunday. Mufafio was our first track, then we blew up when we recorded our fourth song, which was Bela. It's the support we like, we received from the people we used to hang around with, and the families and our fans, it's just the support, otherwise there's no secret. As long as you're loved, you're supported. The dancers have always been there. What we did was, we introduced the kopala dancers to the new wave, yes, we introduced the new wave of kopala. Us in the copper belt, we do rap and dance, so we make it into rap dance music. We make music because we love music, and it's a lifestyle, we try by all means to entertain our country, so that they will be dancing. While specific statistics on youth unemployment within Zambia's creative industries are still emerging, the internet has become a powerful catalyst. It's redefining what entrepreneurship looks like, allowing young, talented individuals to bypass traditional barriers and connect directly with local and even global audiences. As the time we blew up, we blew up in 2020. The time there was something, I'm a COVID, COVID, so we were not attending any show by that time. We had a flash drive, that's the one we used to use to distribute, there's what we call music cafes. So now that we are no longer locked down, we're able to distribute, it's an international platform. We're receiving text messages from people outside Zambia. We're also seeing other countries sampling our music. For example, there's a song we just dropped, it's called Mapopwe. It was sampled by some matches from Malawi. Zambia boasts a youthful population, with 26.7% of its people being youth, of which 65% is under the age of 25. In a nation where traditional employment opportunities can be limited, how is this demographic impacting entrepreneurship, particularly in the internet-driven age? Our digital space is definitely growing, and there have been conversations around putting out certain reforms, guidelines, and of course, legislation in place that helps us creatives monetize our content. But that is still a long conversation, because the implementation aspect of that has been quite a challenge. But, I'm going to give you an example, for somebody like me, who is a creative from Zambia, I'll have to rely mainly on brand deals that you get. So you create content to build an audience, and with that audience, you get to have brands that have the buying power. With its electrifying energy, and its deep connection to Zambian culture, what is the future for Kopala, as it continues to evolve? Our music is unique. It deserves to be global. It deserves to be heard everywhere. We want to see ourselves performing on big stages, like Coachella, Grammys. Driven by the talent and passions of artists like Shanda, Nike, and the many dancers who bring it to life, Kopala might not be just a fleeting trend, but a vibrant cultural force with the potential to captivate audiences worldwide, showcasing the rich artistic landscape of Zambia, on a global stage.

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