Damso | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Damso performing at Vieilles Charrues Festival on July 21, 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Kalubi Mwamba |
| Also known as | Dems |
| Born | 10 May 1992 Kinshasa, Zaire (present-day DR Congo) |
| Origin | Brussels, Belgium |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | |
William Kalubi Mwamba (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso ‘ (French: [damso]), is a Belgian-Congolese rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is popular in France, where all of his albums were certified at least platinum.
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. William's mother is Rose Marthe.
After completing secondary school, Damso's parents encouraged him to continue his studies, and he pursued a degree in marketing and psychology. However, he began spending considerable time in recording studios, and his grades suffered. This led to a clash with his parents, especially his father, who had been 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."[1]
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 musicer awards.[3]
In 2020, he released album QALF. Which is now certified Diamond with over 500,000 units sold.
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 it would hire Damso to prepare an anthem for its participation in that year's 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.”[6]
| Year | Album | Charts | Certification | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Fl) [7] |
BEL (Wa) [8] |
CAN [9] |
FRA [10] |
SWI [11] | |||
| 2016 | Batterie faible | 195 | 2 | — | 8 | 19 | |
| 2017 | Ipséité | 88 | 1 | — | 1 | 5 | |
| 2018 | Lithopédion | 11 | 1 | 64 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2020/ 2021 |
QALF / QALF Infinity |
2 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2023 | QALF Live | — | 38 | — | — | — | |
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Salle d'attente |
| Year | Single | Charts | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Wa) [8] |
FRA [10] |
SWI [11] | ||||
| 2016 | "BruxellesVie" | 22* (Ultratip) |
— | — |
|
Batterie faible |
| "Amnésie" | 12* (Ultratip) |
68 | — |
| ||
| "Paris c'est loin" (featuring Booba) |
26 | 4 | — |
|
||
| 2017 | "Nwaar Is the New Black" | 8 | 2 | 56 |
|
Ipséité |
| "Tueurs" | 10 | 15 | 63 |
|
En Douceur | |
| 2018 | "CQFD" | 42 | 26 | — |
|
Non-album singles |
| "Fais-moi un vie" | 48 | 15 | 100 | |||
| "Mort" | — | 50 | — |
| ||
| "TieksVie" | — | 21 | — |
| ||
| "Smeagol" | — | 48 | — | |||
| "Mucho dinero" | — | 59 | — | |||
| "Ipséité" | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| ||
| "Smog" | 1 | 1 | 21 |
|
Lithopédion | |
| "Feu de bois" | 32 | 2 | 30 | |||
| 2019 | "JTC" (with Kalash) |
46 | 16 | — | TBA | |
| 2020 | "Œveillé" | 18 | 9 | 77 |
| |
| "BXL Zoo" (featuring Hamza) |
1 | 3 | 16 | QALF | ||
| "But en or" (Kalash Criminel x Damso) |
34 | 10 | 92 | |||
| 2021 | "J'avais juste envie d'écrire" | 25 | 49 | — |
| |
| "Morose" | 1 | 1 | 9 | QALF | ||
| 2022 | "Macarena" | — | 57 | — |
|
|
| "Malpolis" (with Kalash) |
27 | — | — |
|
Malpolis | |
| "Cœur de pirate" | 19 | 9 | — |
|
Non-album singles | |
| 2023 | "La rue" (with No Limit and Gazo) |
2 | 1 | — |
| |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
| Year | Single | Charts | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Wa) [8] |
FRA [10] |
SWI [11] | ||||
| 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) |
— | 101 | — | 404Billy album Process | |
| "Tricheur" (Nekfeu featuring Damso) |
1 | 1 | 12 | Nekfeu album Les Étoiles vagabondes | ||
| "ParoVie" (D.A.V featuring Damso) |
— | 130 | — | TBA | ||
| "God Bless" (Hamza featuring Damso) |
10 | 8 | 75 |
|
Hamza album Santa Sauce 2 | |
| 2020 | "Promo" (Ninho featuring Damso) |
— | 2 | 35 |
|
Ninho album M.I.L.S 3 EL GRANDE TOTO album Cameleon |
| 2021 | "Du mal à te dire" (Dinos featuring Damso) |
16 | — | — |
|
Dinos album Stamina, |
| "R9R-Line" (Laylow featuring Damso) |
4 | 25 | 55 | Laylow album L'étrange histoire de Mr. Anderson | ||
| "Démons" (Angèle featuring Damso) |
2 | 5 | 31 | Angèle album Nonante-cinq, | ||
| 2022 | "Dégaine" (Aya Nakamura featuring Damso) |
15 | 1 | — |
|
Aya Nakamura album DNK |
| "Rencontre" (Disiz featuring Damso) |
11 | 1 | — |
|
Disiz album L'Amour | |
| 2023 | "Nocif" (Hamza featuring Damso) |
2 | 1 | 14 |
|
Sincèrement |
| "Coeur de ice" (Zola featuring Damso) |
2 | — | — | Diamant du Bled | ||
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
| Year | Single | Charts | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Wa) [8] |
FRA [10] |
SWI [11] | ||||
| 2016 | "Débrouillard" | — | — | — |
|
Batterie faible |
| "Périscope" | 35 (Ultratip) |
— | — |
| ||
| "Autotune" | — | — | — |
| ||
| "Graine de sablier" | — | — | — |
| ||
| "QuedelaVie" | — | — | — |
| ||
| 2017 | "Θ. Macarena" | 5 | 3 [19] |
45 | Ipséité | |
| "Β. #Quedusaalvie" | — | 5 | — |
| ||
| "Ν. J Respect R" | — | 11 | — |
| ||
| "Ε. Signaler" | — | 7 | 62 |
| ||
| "Γ. Mosaïque solitaire" | — | 6 | — |
| ||
| "Ζ. Kiétu" | — | 8 | — |
| ||
| "Δ. Dieu ne ment jamais" | — | 9 | — |
| ||
| "Η. Gova" | — | 13 | — |
| ||
| "Κ. Kin la belle" | — | 14 | — |
| ||
| "Λ. Lové" | — | 15 | — |
| ||
| "Ι. Peur d'être pêre" | — | 17 | — |
| ||
| "Μ. Noob Saibot" | — | 19 | — |
| ||
| "Ξ. Une âme pour deux" | — | 22 | — |
| ||
| 2018 | "Julien" | 5 | 4 [20] |
— |
|
Lithopédion |
| "Dix leurres" | — | 8 | — |
| ||
| "Silence" (feat. Angèle) |
— | 3 | 48 |
| ||
| "Baltringue" | — | 7 | — |
| ||
| "Noir meilleur" | — | 19 | — | |||
| "60 années" | — | 5 | — |
| ||
| "Même issue" | — | 10 | — |
| ||
| "William" | — | 14 | — |
| ||
| "Introduction" | — | 11 | — |
| ||
| "Festival de rêves" | — | 9 | — |
| ||
| "Perplexe" | — | 15 | — |
| ||
| "Au paradis" | — | 13 | — | |||
| "NMI" | — | 17 | — | |||
| "Tard la night" | — | 23 | — |
| ||
| "Aux paradis" | — | 13 | — | |||
| 2020 | "Deux toiles de mer" | — | 2 | 9 |
|
QALF |
| "Life Life" | — | 5 | 22 |
| ||
| "Coeur en miettes" (feat. Lous and the Yakuza) |
— | 6 | — |
| ||
| "Mevtr" | — | 7 | — | |||
| "911" | — | 8 | 36 |
| ||
| "Sentimental" | — | 9 | — | |||
| "BPM" | — | 10 | — | |||
| "D'ja roulé" | — | 11 | — | |||
| "Pour l'argent" | — | 14 | — | |||
| "Rose Marthe's Love" | — | 15 | — | |||
| "Intro" [QALF] | — | 16 | — |
| ||
| "Fais ça bien" (feat. Fally Ipupa) |
— | 17 | — | |||
| "Thevie radio" [Interlude] | — | 23 | — | |||
| 2021 | "Σ. Morose" | 1 | 1 | 9 |
|
QALF [∞] [Digital] |
| "Π. Vantablack" | — | 3 | 26 | |||
| "Ο. OG" | — | 13 | — | |||
| "Ρ. Dose" | — | 7 | — | |||
| "Υ. 2 Diamants" | — | 4 | 35 | |||
| "Τ. Chialer" (feat. YG Pablo) |
— | 8 | — | |||
| "Φ. Thevie Radio" | — | 10 | — | |||
| "Ψ. Passion" | — | 12 | — |
| ||
| "Χ. Zwaar" | — | 16 | — | |||
| "Ω. Vivre un peu" | — | 15 | — | |||
| "Youvoi" | — | 20 | — | |||
