Killa Ace

BIO

Ali “Killa Ace” Cham is an internationally recognised Gambian hip hop artist and activist that used his music to advocate for human rights, justice and democratic change in his country. Killa Ace returned home from Senegal in 2017 after spending almost two years in exile and continues to play an active role in the advancement of the Gambia’s democratic space and the empowerment of Gambian youth. He is the President of the youth led civil society organisation Team Gom Sa Bopa which translates into “Believe inYourself” and also the Secretary General of the Gambia Music Union.
Killa Ace worked at Afri-Radio as a presenter on the weekly show- “The Cypher” that showcased talented youth from around the world, and provided a positive outlet for youth in our communities from disadvantaged backgrounds to display their rap talents.
Killa Ace’s most popular song “Ku Boka Chi GettaGi” which is Wollof for “Part of the Herd” was the anthem which motivated the Gambia to rise up against the wave of corruption, torture, killings, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killing under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh in a democratic manner. The song released in June 2015 forced Killa Ace to flee into exile after receiving death threats from the National Intelligence Agency, however, it changed the culture of silence that shackled Gambian artists and the general population.
This did not stop Killa Ace from continuing his advocacy from abroad. At this stage the Cypher Platform had already been launched in 2012 and had propelled a number of Gambian artists to stardom. Even though he was in exile the Cypher still continued to unearth hidden talents, mentor and support them to become responsible artists contributing towards their local communities.

In Senegal, Killa Ace’s music and talent shone even brighter where he built up a network with Senegal’s vibrant civil society organisations such as Article 19, Yen A Marre, Trust Africa, Amnesty International, RADHHO and OSIWA to name a few. This enhanced Killa Ace’s capacity and international exposure which he used to network with the Gambian Diaspora. Together he participated in a conference in 2016 which galvanised Gambian Political stakeholders to engage in meaningful dialogue with the aim of ending the brutal dictatorship in the Gambia.
Killa Ace continued to collaborate with numerous Senegalese artists to advocate for social change, justice and democracy in the Gambia. In fact, after the democratic change in the Gambia in December 2016, Gambian and Senegalese youth held a series of cross border engagements under the “Mboka” initiative which stands for Family in Wollof. In what was a first, Gambian and Senegalese youth and Government stakeholders discussed the implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol, cross border mobility and trade. Dialogue was held in the Gambia and Senegal and this project could be expanded further with the right support. The project occurred from 2017 to 2019 after Killa Ace returned to the Gambia.

As the President of Team Gom Sa Bopa Movemt, which translates to “Believe in yourself” in the local Wollof language. Team Gom Sa Bopa (TGSB) is a youth led movement dedicated to raising awareness among young people through Art and arousing their interest in the development of The Gambia. GOM Sa BOPA engage artists to play a role in social life, civic education and to be watchdogs of the management of the country by the leaders and all those in charge of the advancements of the country.
Killa Ace has led a number of initiatives. At least one of the initiatives is organised almost single headedly highlighting the need for more support to enhance his impact. After his return from exile and being incarcerated in the notorious Mile 2 Prison for standing up against Police brutality in 2019, Killa Ace started The Uplift Project a Prison Reform initiative which has seen him conduct two donation drives to Gambian Prisoners and Prison Wardens. The initiative aims to keep Gambian inmates out of prison and build their capacity to avoid criminal activities upon their release. Discussions have commenced with the Director of Prisons to initiate a Prison Reforms Program and a third donation will be conducted before the end of 2022.
Team Gom Sa Bopa’s flagship initiative is The Cypher which features a series of free open mic shows all year long and a Hip Hop Battle Competition where rappers progress to three finalists on the last show. The Cypher 2022 Rap Battle Competition has awarded three finalists a total of D100,000 and additional incentives such astravelling to participate in international events under the Urban Platform. The 2014 Cypher Champion travelled to Dakar to perform in the Festa 2H International Hip Hop Festival. This is one of the biggest hip hop festivals in Africa. Two other Gambian female artists in Awa Bling and Binzywere also nominated to perform in front of an international audience at the 2020 Festa 2 H Hip Hop Festival. In addition to this the 2022 Cypher Champions will be supported with album and song production as well as music video.
Also, in 2022 Team Gom Sa Bopa collaborated with Selam to establish The Pan African Network For Artistic Freedom (PANAF Gambia Chapter which promotes Artistic Freedom in Africa. The network currently consists of eight African countries including Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and much more. This project looks at both the legal framework of Artistic Freedom in network countries which is being propelled by a research study in each country and advocating for a legislative reform promoting artistic freedom. After launching in The Gambia in June 2022, the is undergoing a research study with all stakeholders, this is replicated in other countries to inform the direction the project should take.
Killa Ace’s international recognition sees him perform his music across the continent. As far back as he performed at the Festa 2H International Hip Hop Festival in Dakar Senegal representing The Gambia for four years in a row from 2013 to 2017.
Killa Ace also performed and was part of a panel session at the African Union Combat Corruption Summit in Tanzania. The following year her performed in the Salam A Leikum Festival. International Hip Hop Festival in Mauritania. For this invitation he was selected to represent the Gambia.
In 2018 Killa Ace returned to Senegal to perform at the UPEC International Festival and meet with the network in 2020. The UPEC Network continues to collaborate in cross border activities. Also, in 2018 Killa Ace participated at the Ninth Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy held in Dakar under the theme, “Building Strategic Partnerships for Democratic Renewal.”
In 2022 Killa Ace travelled to Zanzibar to meet up with partners from other African countries to develop the PANAF project concept which is currently being implemented in the Gambia.
Killa Ace first started his musical career with the La Costra Nostra – Vol 1 Compilation and this was followed by a duo album with European Rapper Barz called Nod Your Brainbox. More albums and collaborations continued with the release of the Lyrical Assassination Mixtape andthe critically acclaimed Another Critical Experiment ACE Album saw Killa Ace on his prime.
He went completely viral and shot to stardom after launching Ku Boka Chi Getta Gi followed by the JangjangBurreh Bars Mixtape released on SoundCloud while in exile and the Lyrical Revolution Double Album. More recently Killa Ace has collaborated with other African Artists to release the Music as A Messenger for Democracy Album. The album features KeurGui Crew-Thiat and Kilifeu (Senegal) Moonaya (Senegal/Benin) Awa Bling (The Gambia) Killa Ace (The Gambia) Ami Yerewolo (Mali) Master Soumy (Mali) Cill Soul (Nigeria) Elom20ce (Togo).His next project his the Kilamanjaro album.
Killa Ace first shot to international prominence when he released the bring back our girls song which was featured on BBC and Radio Canada International. Since then, he was featured on Al Jazeera after he was forced into exile to Senegal. He continues to feature in international and local media outlets from his music and advocacy work.
More recently Killa Ace is the Gambia’s resident rapper for German International Media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) and regularly appears on the 77 Percent Rap Up. So far, he has done seven episodes with them on topics like corruption, youth participation in politics, peaceful demonstration in Africa and much more. Here is a link to one of the episodes on DW