Daddy Zemus

Anthony Mbinga Kafunya (1 May 1968 – 3 January 2001), known professionally as Daddy Zemus, was a Zambian musician and songwriter. Hailed as the King of Zam-ragga, he was one of the first artists to fuse local music with ragga, hip-hop and R&B, and is widely regarded as a pioneer in this form of Zambian music. After signing with the fledgling record label Mondo Music, Zemus released the chart topping album Chibaba in December 1999 to critical acclaim, and it turned out to be one of the most influential albums in Zambian music history, as it heralded the new wave of Zambian sound and inspired several other upcoming Zambian musicians.

With the rising popularity of ragga, toasters such as Shabba Ranks and Chaka Demus gained a following in Zambia and were influential in Zemus’ evolution as a musician. Zambian ‘Zam-rock’ musician Paul Ngozi, who had managed to garner a wide fan base by blending rock music with local sounds was also an influence in Zemus’ transition to ragga, as he was motivated to explore various sounds and create his own style by bringing in other performers to flavour it with particular crossover elements. Work on Zemus' second album of the same name commenced but due to lack of resources, they were compelled to record in Zemus' living room and despite the low quality of the production, the title track received a lot of air play on local radio stations.

Legacy Daddy Zemus was the first to rhyme in a local Zambian language. He not only inspired a lot of Zambian musicians to rap and sing in vernacular, but he also had an influence on songwriting. Mainza acknowledged Zemus’ contribution to his own music career and dedicated his debut album Mainza to him, saying “Everything I am now, I owe to him because he changed the way I looked at Zambian songwriting."

Discography Salaula (1997) Chibaba (1999)