Biography

Nasty-D: the pioneer of Zambezi music who never stopped bouncing back

In February 2012, a remix of his hit Bombasa landed on Zambian airwaves. Here he is back, still with his dreadlocks, still mixing kalifunku and reggae under the name he forged: Nasty-D. But for those who know the history of Zambian music, this return is nothing surprising. Nasty-D — whose real name is Davis Ngoma — crossed the decade of the 1990s as one of the architects of the musical renaissance of his country, inventing a hybrid sound that he himself calls Zambezi music.

Born Davies Gersom Ngoma in Lusaka around 1972, the artist began his career as a DJ and promoter for EHD Mobile Disco, the structure that animated the Teen Variety shows on the Copperbelt around Kitwe [^1]. During his studies in Zimbabwe, he formed with two friends the rap trio T2Z — Ommy Luv from Tanzania and Mash Me from Zimbabwe [^1]. Back home, his first solo appearance on Zambian TV in the show Sounds Good sealed his destiny: he performed “Good Milile”, a track with a unique sound that immediately exploded on the country’s radios [^2].

In brief


Stage name	Nasty-D (also spelled Nasty D)
Full name	Davies Gersom Ngoma (or Davis Ngoma)
Birth	Around 1972, Lusaka (Zambia)
Field	Music — Zambezi music (fusion of kalifunku, kalindula, reggae)
Signature works	“Good Milile”, “Aitaya”, “Bombasa”
Distinctions	First Zambian album to chart on the Sounds Music Chart (1998)

From the Copperbelt to the United Kingdom: a first album, a story of courage

The arrival in Lusaka in 1997, with agent Brian Shakarongo Chengala of Jah Entertainments, ran into a concrete problem: no local structure could record his ideas [^1]. Nasty-D then went to train at CIMA at West London College, finished his studies, and took a job in a chicken restaurant to finance his first album. The result? Nyanjalize Bembalize, recorded in a studio in central London and released in 1998, became the very first Zambian record to appear on the Sounds Music Chart, a local chart based on physical sales [^1].

Back in Lusaka, he formed the group EHD (Ever High Dreads) with Steve Lox and 2wice. The brutal death of Steve Lox in 2000 caused the breakup: 2wice released a solo single, Tomato Balunda, conceived as a group project but which fractured the collective. The band dissolved [^1].

Zambezi music and the golden age (2001-2005)

In 2001, Fwelele Fwelele, the second album, was released by Sounds Investments Zambia. A year later, Davis and his wife opened their own production company under the name Mphalala Productions. With this new momentum, Zambezi Yeka Yeka was born and marked the turning point of Zambezi music: kalifunku, kalindula, and reggae blended in a fusion that gave birth to the track Aitaya. A track that climbed to the top of local charts for a record 23 consecutive weeks — an exploit still unmatched [^1].

Nasty-D then formed the Zambezi Symphony, a live group that brought on 2wice as lead vocalist and a host of musicians — Desh, Shi Masta, Mwaka, Queen Sheba on choirs, Zenzo on bass, Dave on lead guitar — to tour the country [^1]. After the dissolution of the project, he retired to Kabwe with some members to refine his sound before reforming the Zambezi Family Band, alongside his own brother Hakeem and sister Mwaka [^1].

In 2004, Banjikata Kata Sana explored his universe with the title track dedicated to his own arrest for possession of cannabis. He indeed served a sentence of community service, but in the same year the anti-drug commission (DEC) solicited him to sensitize young people about the risks of drugs and alcohol [^3]. In July 2005, Zambezi Fire was released by Supershine Investments, closely followed by the project Zambezi Bluez.

After the pause, the returns: an immutable style

In 2007, the musician stepped back from the Zambian music scene for personal and academic reasons [^1]. The silence lasted a decade, but not entirely: in 2012, he returned with the remix of Bombasa and Shake Your Kwendo, a club track featuring a sixteen-year-old young rapper, Drillz [^1]. In 2024, he was photographed without dreadlocks for Independence Day — a new look he described as “neat and dope” [^4]. On June 26, 2026, he released his single I’ll Be Your Knight, a new collaboration with Misfit and Louie X [^5].

Selected discography

Album / Single	Year	Label or alternative label
Nyanjalize Bembalize	1998	Self-produced, London
Fwelele Fwelele	2001	Sounds Investments Zambia
Zambezi Yeka Yeka	~2003	Mphalala Productions
Banjikata Kata Sana	2004	Mission Press
Zambezi Fire	2005	Supershine Investments
“Bombasa” (remix) / Shake Your Kwendo	2012	Y.E.M Records
I’ll Be Your Knight (single)	2026	—

Legacy and influence

Nasty-D ranks among the rare Zambian artists who, from the end of the 1990s, knew how to combine hip-hop, reggae, and traditional music to forge a truly Zambian sound. His concept of Zambezi music, born from kalifunku and kalindula, paved the way for generations of artists who until then had only traditional kalindula or Congolese rumba to refer to [^1]. The Zambian charts of 2003 remain marked by Aitaya, and his incantations in Chichewa or Bemba continue to resonate in bars and village parties across the country.

He remains a discreet musician, almost absent from major media — as noted by a columnist after his stop in Livingstone: musically Nasty D went quiet and was almost forgotten — but his fans have never forgotten him [^3]. At 52, he continues to tour and record on a Zambian stage that never stops rediscovering him.