Damso

William Kalubi Mwamba (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso , is a Belgian-Congolese rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is popular in France, where all of his albums have been certified at least platinum. His brother is Aziz Loukambou, an automation engineer apprentice (Esix, Othua).

Early life and education Kalubi was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) to a sociologist mother and cardiologist father. When he was nine years old, he and his family left the country for Belgium because of the Second Congo War which he speaks about in his song Graine de sablier ("the shots of the Kalashnikov keep me from dreaming"), Exutoire ("kill everyone even the pregnant women"), and K. Kin la belle ("oh Kin [Kinshasa] the beautiful, the one that's caused me so much pain). They initially settled in Kraainem, a commune on the outskirts of Brussels, where Damso grew up before moving when Damso was 22 to the largely Congolese neighborhood of Matonge in Ixelles. William's mother is Rose Marthe.

After completing secondary school, Damso's parents urged him to pursue a degree in marketing and psychology, but his passion for music led him to spend more time in recording studios, causing his academic performance to suffer. This resulted in conflicts with his parents, especially his father, who had been a medical doctor in Kinshasa, ultimately leading to Damso being kicked out of his home. Struggling to make ends meet, Damso resorted to living in squats and engaging in illegal activities for financial survival, driven by his refusal to tolerate racism and mistreatment in traditional workplaces.

Career Damso started his rap career in 2006 by performing at local and underground events. At the start of his rap career, he formed rap collective OPG with childhood friend Dolfa. They later recruited Ducke, Lio Brown, and Rex. He released his first solo project Salle d'attente online as a free download in 2014. In collaboration with his band OPG, and significantly inspired by his older brother Mehdi Rais, he released his mixtape MMMXIII on 24 September 2014. Damso made his name in 2015 thanks to his song "Poseidon", which appears on Booba's OKLM mixtape. Following this, he joined Booba's 92i collective and signed with Universal Music. He made an appearance on Booba's album Nero Nemesis on the track "Pinocchio", in collaboration with Booba and rapper Gato Da Bato. Damso's verse was noted by the public and the media, increasing his popularity and widening his audience.

In France, all of Damso's albums have attained at minimum platinum certification.

His second album Ipséité was released on 28 April 2017 and was certified triple platinum in less than six months. The album is now certified diamond with over 900,000 cumulative album sales in France.

In 2018, Damso's third album Lithopedion was certified platinum within a week of its release and is now certified Diamond with over 500,000 units sold. He won the best musician awards.

Concerts Damso organised his first tour, the Ipséité Tour after the release of his album Ipséité in 2017 in which he went toured in France and Belgium. After a huge success, he continued with the Lithopédion Tour in 2018 and 2019 across the Francophone world.

Discography Albums SNEP: 2× Platinum 2

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

SNEP: Platibum SNEP: Diamond

As featured artist Year Single Charts Certifications Album BEL(Wa) SNEP: Diamond SNEP: Diamond Angèle album Nonante-cinq, 2022 "Dégaine" 15 1 — SNEP: Diamond SWI 45 BEA: 3× Platinum — SNEP: Platinum Lithopédion "Dix leurres"—8— SNEP: Gold "Silence"(feat. Angèle)—348 SNEP: Diamond "Baltringue"—7— SNEP: Gold "Noir meilleur"—19— "60 années"—5— SNEP: Gold "Même issue"—10— SNEP: Gold "William"—14— SNEP: Gold "Introduction"—11— SNEP: Gold "Festival de rêves"—9— SNEP: Gold "Perplexe"—15— SNEP: Gold "Au paradis"—13— "NMI"—17— "Tard la night"—23— SNEP: Gold "Aux paradis"—13—2020 "Deux toiles de mer"—29 SNEP: Diamond QALF "Life Life"—522 SNEP: Gold "Coeur en miettes" (feat. Lous and the Yakuza)—6— SNEP: Platinum "Mevtr"—7— "911"—836 SNEP: Gold "Sentimental"—9— "BPM"—10— "D'ja roulé"—11— "Pour l'argent"—14— "Rose Marthe's Love"—15— "Intro" [QALF]—16— SNEP: Gold "Fais ça bien"(feat. Fally Ipupa)—17— "Thevie radio" [Interlude]—23—2021 "Σ. Morose"119 BEA: Platinum QALF [∞][Digital] "Π. Vantablack"—326 SNEP: Platinum BEA: Gold "Ο. OG"—13— "Ρ. Dose"—7— "Υ. 2 Diamants"—435 SNEP: Diamond BEA: Gold "Τ. Chialer"(feat. YG Pablo)—8— "Φ. Thevie Radio"—10— "Ψ. Passion"—12— SNEP: Gold "Χ. Zwaar"—16— "Ω. Vivre un peu"—15— "Youvoi"—20—2024 "Tout tenter"—7—J'ai menti "Alpha"—322 "Laisse-moi tranquille"—3— "Schema"337— "Limbisa ngai"37947 "Mony"—16— "Consequences"—19— "24h plus tot"—24— "La Rue est morte."—27— "Damsautiste"—37— 2025 "Jcvdems"47— Bēyāh "Love Is Blind"5532 "Pa Pa Paw"4633 "Magic"2711— "Frére"—20— "Qui m'a demandé"—21— "Wolof"—22— "Vie Olence"—23— "T'es mon del"—24— "Ya Tengo Sentimientos"—27— "Police"—41— "Kaki"—44— "Fibonacci"—50— "Mamil?h"—52—