Damso

William Kalubi (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso (French: [damso]), is a Belgian-Congolese rapper, singer, and songwriter.

Damso
Damso performing at Vieilles Charrues Festival on July 21, 2018
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Kalubi
Also known asDems
Born (1991-05-10) 10 May 1991
Kinshasa, Republic of Zaire
OriginBrussels, Belgium
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active2006–present
Labels
Associated acts

Early life

Kalubi was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo). When he was nine years old, he and his family left the country because of the bloody armed conflict and moved to Belgium. They eventually settled in Matonge, a largely Congolese neighborhood in Ixelles, Brussels.

Education

After completing Secondary school, Damso's parents encouraged him to continue his studies. The artist then proceeded in majoring in marketing and psychology. However, Damso spent more time in recording studios affecting his grades negatively. This led to a clash with his parents, especially his dad, a medical doctor in Kinshasa. [1] "I was even kicked out of the house!" explained Damso. This became a major time of struggle for the artist, which led him to live in various squats of the city and led no choice for Damso to trade or sell his goods for money. The artist states: "I did marketing and psychology, but racism took a toll on my life choices. I never really felt accepted because of that. I tried to find jobs, I had interviews, but it never worked out. Maybe it's because of my height, I'm intimidating, I don't know. It's also what pushed me into illegal activities; I wasn't trying to be sly, I just needed cash. All of this makes you angry, but it also makes you want to make your own choices. Working behind a desk with a boss who calls you a "dirty nigger" has never been an interest of mine. I didn't want to accept such treatment, just because I have to pay my rent at the end of the month. It motivated me." [2]

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 younger 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. [3] 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. He was signed to Universal Music with whom he has released three albums, Batterie Faible in 2016, Ipséité in 2017 and Lithopédion in 2018.

Controversy

National soccer teams often commission musicians to create songs for big tournaments as a way of building morale and reflecting national identity. In 2018, the Belgian Football Association announced that they would hire Damso to prepare anthem for their participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. However, the Belgian FA received strong criticism from the public and women rights group because of misogynist and sexist content of Damso’s songs. In March 2018, it announced that it had ended the collaboration with Damso “by mutual agreement,” according to a statement. The association went on to say, “We especially wish to apologize to all those who felt offended, discriminated against or diminished by the choice of the artist in question.” [4]

Awards

In France, all of Damso's albums have attained at minimum platinum certification. [5] On July 8, 2016, his first studio album, entitled Batterie Faible, was released on Booba's 92i label. The project, fully mixed and recorded by Krisy, has been certified platinum with more than 100,000 sales in France. [6] His second album Ipséité was released on April 28, 2017 and was certified 3x platinum in less than six months; Ipséité is now certified Diamond with Damso over 900,000 cumulative album sales in France. [7] In 2018, his third and latest album Lithopedion was certified Platinum within a week of its release and is now certified 3x Platinum. He won the best musicer awards. [5]

Discography

Albums
Year Album Charts Certification
BEL
(Fl)
[8]		 BEL
(Wa)
[9]		 CAN
[10]		 FRA
[11]		 SWI
[12]
2016 Batterie faible 195 2 — 8 19
  • FRA: Platinum [5]
2017 Ipséité 88 1 — 1 5
2018 Lithopédion 11 1 64 1 1

Mixtapes
Year Album
2014 La salle d'attente

Singles

As lead artist
Year Single Charts Album
BEL
(Wa)
[9]		 FRA
Download
[11]		 FRA
Download
& Streaming
 SWI
[12]
2016 "BruxellesVie" 22*
(Ultratip)		 101 — Batterie faible
"Amnésie" 12*
(Ultratip)		 68 —
"Paris c'est loin"
(featuring Booba)		 26 4 —
2017 "Nwaar Is the New Black" 8 — 2
[14]		 — Ipséité
"Tueurs" 10 22 63 En Douceur
2018 "CQFD" 42 53 — Non-album singles
"Fais-moi un vie" 48 20 100
"Mort" — 51 —
"TieksVie" — 57 —
"Smeagol" — 60 —
"Mucho dinero" — 61 —
"Ipséité" 2 4 1
[15]		 26
"Smog" 1 25 1
[16]		 21 Lithopédion
"Feu de bois" 32 33 — 30
2019 "JTC"
(with Kalash)		 46 — — TBA
2020 "Œveillé" 18 — 77

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Year Single Charts Album
BEL
(Wa)
[9]		 FRA
Download<br>[11]		 SWI
2016 "Pinocchio"
(Booba featuring Damso and Gato)		 — 115 — Booba album
Nero Nemesis
2017 "Vitrine"
(Vald featuring Damso)		 17*
(Ultratip)		 71 — Vald album
Agartha
"Ivre"
(Benash featuring Shay and Damso)		 — 66 — Benash album
CDG
"Mobali"
(Siboy featuring Benash & Damso)		 — 56 — Siboy album
Spécial
"Mwaka Moon"
(Kalash featuring Damso)		 1 1 25 Kalash album
Mwaka Moon
"Noche"
(Lacrim featuring Damso)		 — 26 65 Lacrim album
R.I.P.R.O 3
"113"
(Booba featuring Damso)		 — 27 38 Booba album
Trône
2018 "Rêves bizarres"
(Orelsan featuring Damso)		 1 — 15 Orelsan album
La fête est finie - Épilogue
2019 "RVRE"
(404Billy featuring Damso)		 404Billy album
Process
"Tricheur"
(Nekfeu featuring Damso)		 1 Nekfeu album
Les Étoiles vagabondes
"ParoVie"
(D.A.V featuring Damso)		 TBA

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Other charted songs
Year Single Charts Album
BEL
(Wa)
[9]		 FRA
Download
[11]		 FRA
Download
& Streaming
2016 "Débrouillard" — 187 Batterie faible
"Périscope" 35
(Ultratip)		 —
2017 "Macarena" 5 13 3
[17]		 Ipséité
"#Quedusaalvie" — 54 5
"J Respect R" — 59 11
"Signaler" — 61 7
"Mosaïque solitaire" — 91 6
"Kiétu" — 101 8
"Dieu ne ment jamais" — 133 9
"Gova" — 138 13
"Kin la belle" — 168 14
"Lové" — 111 15
"Peur d'être pêre" — — 17
"Noob saibot" — — 19
"Une âme pour deux" — — 22
2018 "Julien" 5 112 4
[18]		 Lithopédion
"Dix leurres" — 63 8
"Silence"
(feat. Angèle)		 — 69 3
"Baltringue" — 78 7
"Noir meilleur" — 99 19
"60 années" — 107 5
"Même issue" — 129 10
"William" — 143 14
"Introduction" — 177 11
"Festival de rêves" — 183 9
"Perplexe" — 190 15
"Au paradis" — — 13
"NMI" — — 17
"Tard la night" — — 23
gollark: You could use fewer fibre lines for the same data throughput though.
gollark: Oh, for IO, neat. I wonder why that hasn't really taken off yet.
gollark: Unless you count whatever "silicon photonics" stuff Intel is doing for 400GbE and such.
gollark: Delayed again? I don't think the technology exists at all now.
gollark: 3nm and below will apparently use GAAFETs, which are a new design of transistor which will improve things somewhat.

References
  1. Jeune Afrique Interview http://www.jeuneafrique.com/336516/culture/damso/
  2. Jeune Afrique Interview http://www.jeuneafrique.com/336516/culture/damso/
  3. Damso Biography https://www.universalmusic.fr/artiste/18446-damso/bio
  4. Belgium Drops Rapper from World Cup Song After Sexism Outcry https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/arts/music/belgium-damso-world-cup-song.html
  5. "Les certifications". snepmusique. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  6. Batterie faible Platinum Certification https://www.booska-p.com/new-batterie-faible-de-damso-est-certifie-disque-de-platine-n78555.html
  7. Albums sales https://genius.com/artists/Damso
  8. Ultratop.be/fr/ Damso discographie
  9. Ultratop.be/fr/ Damso discographie
  10. Damso Chart History: Canadian Albums
  11. LesCharts.com Damso discography
  12. hitparade.ch Damso discography
  13. "Gold/Platinum". Ultra Top. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  14. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 17, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  15. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 18, 2018)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  16. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 25, 2018)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  17. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 17, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  18. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 25, 2018)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
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