Zambia: Ephraim - Prolific Gospel Singer

Zambia: Ephraim - Prolific Gospel Singer

The Times of Zambia (Ndola)

14 January 2008
Posted to the web 14 January 2008

Ndola

AT first sight he strikes you as a smart talented lad with a bright future in the Zambian Music. Indeed, he is multi-gifted with a captivating voice and good looks. Simply put, he is charming.

His name is Ephraim Mutalange, popularly known as the 'Son of the Copperbelt'.

Ephraim, 24, was born and bred on the Copperbelt in the small mining town of Kalulushi and that is how he has earned himself a tag of being the 'Son of the Copperbelt'.

Ephraim has no doubt emerged as a striking force in the music industry within a short time and has become a household name to reckon with.

For all those who appreciate gospel music and have had a chance to sample Ephraim's music they would attest to the fact that the young musician is competing favourably with big names in the likes of the award-winning BJ Ngosa and his young brother Matthew and the likes of Joyce Mwanza.

Smart looks are Ephraim's trade marks, and he carries himself that way even on stage contrary to the usual riff rough appearance of most artistes of his calibre. It's not rare to spot him in a smart shirt, jacket and light blue jeans coupled with a smart hair do which can perhaps be linked to his past having been a fashion model and a Mr Independence in 1999-2000.

Ephraim describes himself as a gifted singer who mainly attributes the mentoring to his dear mum. Not only is his music inspirational but also prophetic as it touches numerous lives of people, both the young and the old.

His latest performance during new year's eve at the Christian Arts Promotions (Chapro)-organised concert at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre was proof of what has been alluded to above, where a huge crowd had gathered to witness the eventful count down to 2008.

The audience could not resist Ephraim's music and every time he got on to the stage they joined in the singing and dancing and the fun went on till the dawn of day.

He brags that he is driven by passion rather than money when it comes to singing gospel music while he also finds it more fulfilling compared to secular music.

Ephraim was born on September 26, 1983 in Kalulushi as a fourth child in a family of six siblings, four male and two females, and his father, Philip, a mine engineer is Soli by tribe while his mother, Daphney, a nurse currently based in New Jersey in the United States, is a Lozi from Sesheke.

Ephraim comes from a singing family as his mother and two older sisters Gladys and Prisca used to sing in the choir of the African Methodist church while he played the keyboard for them.

He did his primary school education at Masamba in 1988 after which he moved on to Mukuba Secondary School in Kitwe and then later on completed his Grade 12 at Kalulushi High School in 2001.

Since his mother is a nurse, Ephraim's desire was to become a medical doctor but the Grade 12 results could not allow him to enrol into medical school.

But he does not regret his decision of venturing into music and feels that he could utilise his youth to explore his full potential in the industry and then advance himself academically later on.

Ephraim grew up as a reticent child but came out of his cacoon during his secondary school days at Kalulushi High School in 2000 when his talent was finally unveiled after taking part in modeling and scooped the Mr Independence title.

Prior to Ephraim scooping the title, it was previously held by another contender Clinton Gosi, now deceased. But before that time it was Ephraim's dad Philip who held it for five years.

"I grabbed the title from Gosi and that gave me a lot of confidence that I could stand before a huge crowd and model later on even sing," he says.

To the Mutalanges the Mr Independence title became a family inheritance as it was handed over from father to son.

From that point onwards Ephraim started singing secular music first but his mother prevailed on him and advised him to venture into gospel music as it was more fulfilling than the latter and he obliged.

He has since released two albums titled Temba baby and the more highly-successful Limo Ndanaka whose songs have really proved popular on the Zambian airwaves.

His debut album, Temba Baby, is a dedication to his sister Gladys who after having concurrent miscarriages finally gave birth to a baby girl after intensive prayers. Gladys is now a proud mother of a daughter and son.

Zambia: Ephraim - Prolific Gospel Singer

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On the other hand, Limo Ndanaka is Ephraim's own expression of how human beings tend to give in to pressures of life acknowledging his own weaknesses at times.

"I am only human and cannot claim to be perfect, I know that I have failed in some areas and have let some people down including my parents at a time when they trusted me so much," he says.

This album contains 13 songs including the title track Limo Ndanaka while others are Lesa fye umwine, Eko Mwaba, Fyonse ndecita, Mwishina lyenu and Mfisa we mfumu which features Central Province police chief Brenda Muntemba.

The rest were Amapalo, muntungulule, mweba shilala,ndalumbu,Africa and mwishina lyenu remix.

He was prompted to disclose that the year 2007 was a difficult period in his music career in that he faced some hurdles which almost saw him quitting but he managed to overcome them with help from the family, friends and the Church.

Ephraim is a proud father of a three-week-old girl named Abishenya and refused to delve into the details surrounding the birth of the child, nevertheless he fondly refers to her as a bundle of joy and best friend.

"I have identified my strength in gospel music. When I look at the life of psalmist David in the Bible it encourages me to soldier on. I accepted my mistakes that is why I moved on looking up to God despite what had happened to me," he says.

He, however, warned other youngsters to be cautious of traps in life and avoid falling into them because the devil was real when it comes to trapping ministers of the gospel.

"I do not regret that I have gone public over my experiences but I want other youths to learn some lessons from me and avoid getting into my situation," he says.

Ephraim affirms the wise words of artiste BJ Ngosa who advised fellow gospel artists to live upright lives as they had an important role to play of impacting on people's lives.

"We are like teachers who are tutoring pupils and so apart from sending prophetic messages through our music, we are expected to be living examples according to what we preach," he says.

Ephraim also plays a guitar and is busy working on his third album at home where he has opened up a studio.

During his spare time he likes going to the gym because keeping fit and healthy is part of his life style.

He has paid great tribute to all his fans who appreciate his music saying that they are the ones who have made him to be a star.

He recently got two scholarships to study music and information technology in the United States and Australia respectively but academics is not his priority now when the third album is quite advanced.

Ephraim feels that he would rather concentrate on producing more albums then study later in life.

Lately along with up-coming artiste Nansi Mulenga the duo have done a latest song Nikaitana which has been seen several times on the screen by keen viewers of Muvi television.

Ephraim had a hand in helping Nansi write the words of the song which has some parts in Bemba and Nyanja.