JK

BIO

Born Jordan Katembula, JK, is a Zambian musician from Lusaka. He is one of the country’s popular vocalists, composers and producers. Born in 1978 in Ndola, he attended his junior school at Chilengwa Basic School and his secondary education at Lubuto School in Ndola respectively. He started to embrace music with his peers at the age of eight whilst in his fourth year of junior school.

He recorded his demo at The Savoy Hotel in Ndola in 1997 with a band known as The Ukwa Band. After a huge applauses and credits, he moved to Lusaka for greener pastures where he met one of Zambia’s well-renowned rap artists called MC Wabwino at the Heritage Studio. This allowed him to feature on MC Wabwino’s popular album ‘Yamene Yamene’.

He later joined a music group called New Age. Their intention as New Age was to produce a gospel album. But they conscripted their sound engineer and producer Sebastian Mutale and decided to change the whole gospel concept to something more secular. They released two albums namely ‘Biyoyo’ and ‘Chikokoshi’. Chikoshi did very well on local scene. After disbanding the group, he released his own debut album, self-titled ‘JK’ in 2001. In 2002, he received a Ngoma Award as well as a KORA Award nomination. This was followed by the release of the 14-track ‘Helena’ released in 2003. It features a wonderful guest appearance by Zimbabwean music legend Oliver Mtukudzi on a track called 'Dzokera' in Shona and Bemba. On one track, he performed a duet with Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mutukudzi. The album's style varies from upbeat dance raps, ragga, to slow ballads.

He also did a track titled ‘Kapiripiri’. The song has a video which received air play on MTVbase and Channel O. Some of his music videos are available on YouTube. Salma Doldia, a female Zambian artist featured on the album. The album was produced by Digital X, a Lusaka based studio. In 2014, he released a song titled ‘Telemundo Loving’ which aired on channel O and all local TV stations in Zambia. He has a song called ‘No Pressure’ which featured South African music icon Hugh Masekela.

Apart from his home country, he has also performed in London and South Africa.