Chris Bang popularises Tshivenda RnB

Tshivenda RnB and Afropop may not be that popular when compared to Venrap in the Vhembe region, but for Christopher Lambani this is a genre worth exploring.

The 24-year-old musician, known as Chris Bang, is the artist of mixing love, rhythm and vernacular language to bring the best RnB and Afropop. 

Starting in music circles about six years ago, Chris Bang has immensely focused most of his songs on love as he believes this is the direction of RnB genre. “Most of my songs are about love. Even though I do focus on the concept of life and how I perceive it, the core concept of my music has always been love,” he said.

His journey in the music fraternity has not been a walk in the park for this musician. He recalls that the industry is a bit challenging and discouraging at times, but perseverance and hard work always yield better results.

At one stage, Chris Bang, who was a member of the choir at Muthuhadini Combined School while he was still growing up, thought about giving up but chose to continue his journey and develop his talent and potential.

“I always knew that I have the talent, but trying to get recognition and collaborating with other artists who are already known wasn’t easy,” he recalls.

According to him, those who have been in the industry for a while initially ignored him until they heard his music. “Sometimes you even think that it might not work and decide to give up,” he said.

However, in 2013 he met a group of local artists from his area, started a recording crew, and they developed and nurtured their own talent. “I then started recording from various studios with other artists until I released my first album,” he said.

Ever since then, most of his songs have received airplay on radio stations such as Phalaphala FM, Capricorn FM and different community radio stations.

His 13-track first album, Lwendo, was released in 2016 and he subsequently released an extended play, entitled Maduvha, consisting of nine tracks.

Having performed at various local prominent events and collaborated with several known and unknown local artists, Chris Bang wants his journey to continue up to the international stages. He said that coming from Venda would not stop him from reaching his goal and he would continue working towards achieving it.

“I want people to know that I am a Venda musician who sings in Tshivenda and English, not just a musician from Venda,” he said.

Entertainment - Date: 21 April 2019

Phathutshedzo Luvhengo

Email: