WHAT’S ON: Chess waxing strong in the US

Kansaikou Numukunda Darboe, aka Chess, is another Gambian youngster working to develop his music career. Born to a family of intellectuals, Chess is the only child who took a 360-degree turn and decided to take music as a career. The young sprouting star is currently working on his second album which is due in December.

According to reports reaching What’s On, at the age of 13, he was crowned by the West African Arts Society during the International Year of the Child with a scholarship to travel to Malaysia but his family refused him permission to travel.

Chess, who was maddened by this, came to be considered as the outcast of the family but he persevered until the entire family noticed that he loves what he does and started to support him.

His ability to speak several Gambians languages has helped him a lot in developing his rap and to reach out to many African communities.

He is well known for his active performance and does extremely well on the stage.
He travelled to the United States of America in 1990 and has since been moving from State to State to promote his music. For the past 4 years, he has been based in Seattle City in Washington State.

In 1999, he decided to fully take music as his career and invested greatly into it.
Reports added that the young sprouting Gambian star is gradually making a name for himself. He started doing street rap with a group until he was able to construct a proper rhyme then he went solo and started to sing African languages on hip hop beats.

 Chess currently runs his own record label called Asi Koi Record with DJ Rndupa.
“I take hip hop beats and rhyme my Wollof, Mandinka, Fula, Sarahuleh and even Jola. That makes me unique and brings out the beauty in my music," he said.

The young star has worked with different producers since he started music including Rootless Records, D Melo, Eric Powers and is presently working with Vitamin D. He released his first 9-track album in 2003.