Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time on KEXP, is "CHAILA" by Denise Chaila, from the 2020 album GO Boldly on narolane. Denise Chaila will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22 and has also been nominated for a Music Moves Europe Award.
The past two years have been full of extreme highs and lows for Zambian-Irish rapper Denise Chaila. On one hand, 2020 saw her release her debut full-length GO Bravely to rave reviews, prominent television performances, and a slew of nominations, leading her to become the highest-ranking Irish woman in the country’s charts that year. She then followed that up with November’s five-song release It’s A Mixtape that saw her boldly exploring new sonic territories to acclaim.
At the same time, the giant push into the spotlight has led to an egregious amount of racism being thrown at the rapper on the internet. When GO Boldly won Chaila an RTÉ Choice Music Prize (the first time a mixtape has ever won the crown), the vitriol being aimed at Chaila in the comment sections was so disturbingly cruel that she asked RTÉ to stop tagging her in posts so that she wouldn’t have to witness the abuse.
“CHAILA,” our Song of the Day and the hit that made people start paying attention to the rapper, is a fun and clever jab at all the people that haven’t been able to pronounce her name. “My name’s not that hard to pronounce /Pre-K it’s not profound,” she deadpans with a roll of her eyes.
Watch the video for “CHAILA,” directed by Mark Logan, below and catch Denise Chaila’s virtual performance at Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference on January 19-22.
