Mirriam Mukape (born August 4, 1986), popularly known as Mampi, is a Zambian singer, actress and songwriter. Her music is kwaito and reggae inspired. She is one of the most viewed
Zambian female artists on YouTube.
Mampi was born in Lusaka on 4 August 1986. She started singing in
church at the age of six. She undertook her primary education at Muyooma Basic
School, and secondary education at Libala
High School, and the Springfields
Coaching Centre in Lusaka.
At the age of 14 she lost
her mother and then at 16 she lost her father. She found herself homeless at
times and was not able to further her education. She cites prayer and being
taken in by a friend's sister is what got her through the tough times in her
life.
It was around the time of
the loss of her brother and father, that Mampi was discovered by a music
producer and signed a record deal in 2003. She released her first album Maloza in 2005 which included the song
"Sunshya". She performed the song for her first appearance on National
Television. Her second album, Chimo ni chimo, was released in 2007. She performed in Namibia for the first time in 2012, at Windhoek.
In 2012 she released another album Natural Born Star.
In 2015 Portuguese singer, Luyanna, released a version of
Mampi's hit track Walilowelela. The track still has Mampi singing
some lines in Bemba and Nyanja while Luyanna sings other lines in Portuguese.
The track which was
accompanied by a video that was heavily inspired by African culture. Though she
did not appear in the video with Luyanna, the two appeared in a music video of
a new version of a previously released track, Why by Mampi.
In December 2017 Mampi released the single "Nyula
Yako" from an album set that was released in 2018 of the same title. The
dance hall inspired song was accompanied by a music video.[11]
In the same month, Mampi joined other African musicians including South African Award winning DJ Black Coffee to close off the year at the Vic Falls Carnival.