Pompi Opens up on His Music Journey & Being Criticised for Performing at Big Brother Africa

[Image Source: Zambian Music Blog]

By Kinyua Mwangi

Get Free Music Updates and Mixes on Telegram

The Zambian gospel industry is incomplete without the mention of Chaka Nyathando alias Pompi. He is a gospel minister passing the gospel and the sharing the love of God and messages of hope through his music.

Pompi’s art is great and whenever you listen to any of his song, you can’t help but notice he is too deep into his art. Interestingly, he never saw himself as an artist. All he wanted was to pursue academics to which he attained a Business Systems degree, but ended up as a musician.

Read Also: 5 Top Gospel Artists to Watch Out for in Zambia

It has been a long journey for him to get to the top of Zambian gospel music charts. Unknown to many, his music journey was and is still inspired by the legends like James Sikala.

Pompi confesses that he is a staunch follower and lover of authentic African music which Sikala and the likes of Izrael churn out.

“I’m a big fan of James Sikala…he even knows Izrael huge huge fan,” he told ZMB Talks during an interview.

Pompi’s journey hasn’t been smooth sailing all through especially after he was called to perform in 2013 Big Brother Africa. At the time, he was riding high with his hit song ‘Ninjo’; it booked him a slot at BBA.

What followed was heavy criticism as no one expected a gospel artist to perform at such an event. Looking back, Pompi says it was all strategic and his label planned it all by omitting the fact that he is a gospel artist as it forwarded Pompi’s name to the organizers.

Read Also: Pompi ‘Kwacha’: New Music Zambia [Official Video]

The backlash he got then did not make him falter at all. He recalls since he ventured into the gospel music industry, he has seen it all including being banned by some churches; so handling critics after BBA wasn’t hard for him.

“I’ve always been found in unorthodox places. I was initially banned from some churches so it’s been a long road,” he said.

He doesn’t regret it either because he gained a lot of new fans from Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.