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William Kalubi Mwamba (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso ‘ (French:[damso]), is a Belgian-Congoleserapper, singer, and songwriter. He is popular in France, where all of his albums were certified at least platinum.
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 bloody armed conflict 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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]
On July 8, 2016, his first studio album, entitled Batterie Faible, was released on Booba's label: 92i Records. The project, fully mixed and recorded by Krisy, has been certified platinum in France selling more than 300,000 units.[4]
His second album Ipséité was released on April 28, 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.[5]
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.[3]
In 2020, he released album QALF, which was later certified Diamond with over 500,000 units sold.
Damso explores a number of themes related to romance, success, his country of origin (the DRC), racism, and gender.
Personal life
In 2017, Damso had his son Lior. In 2020, he dedicated the song Deux toiles de mer to him which is one of the biggest successes of his album, QALF. Damso is separated from his son's mother, as explained in the song. He initially dedicated an open letter to his son under an Instagram which greatly elicited emotion from his fans.
Controversy
In 2018, the Belgian Football Association planned to commission Damso to create an anthem for the national soccer team's participation in the FIFA World Cup, but faced public backlash and criticism from women's rights groups due to misogynistic and sexist content in his songs. Following this controversy, the association terminated their collaboration with Damso, issuing an apology to those who felt offended or discriminated against by their choice of artist.[6]
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.
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