Denise Chaila - CHAILA
In Our Headphones
KEXP
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 29 December 2021
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Denise Chaila - "CHAILA" from the 2020 album GO Bravely 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 ones 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, at the link below and catch Denise Chaila’s virtual performance at Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I do what I want with the pronouns, keep it low key on my profile, I raise the bar when |
| 0:24.5 | I come through, you already know it's gonna go down, my name's not the heart to pronouns, |
| 0:29.2 | three gates not profound, C-H-A-I-L-A, sound the words out, it's not today, it's not |
| 0:35.7 | chalala, the hard built swallow, chile, or chaliyah, chiala, chalala, that's not my name, |
| 0:44.7 | say my name, I've got drive, don't need gas, I wanna go far, now go fast, chemical X when |
| 0:52.2 | I power up, turn back now, hard pass, I don't go Dutch when I checkmate, I keep the banner |
| 0:57.2 | on my chest plate, all these takes are lukewarm, you should just sail with your chest mate, |
| 1:01.7 | it's not chalay, it's not chalala, not a hard built swallow, chaliyah, or chaliyah, |
| 1:07.4 | chiala, chiala, that's not my name, same my name, book cycles every time the ice books |
| 1:17.5 | where I took the training wheels off, two different, cover new ground for all the hope |
| 1:21.7 | of pain cost, now all who want to lose their faith and all who want to all lust, I know my |
| 1:26.7 | heart, and I know my name, and I know the path that I walk, I work this hard so I can |
| 1:30.8 | harvest, don't pick my fruit in the little branches, I don't know you man, but I know |
| 1:34.2 | dances, free the journey who's gonna stop this, I don't need gifts if you look musky, stay |
| 1:38.6 | philanthropist, don't need your concern, if you'll look at me and see a trooper kid, |
| 1:43.1 | go on like dirt, don't care what you heard, my word is my bond, and my name is my word, |
| 1:48.3 | the soul of my world, and it's not chalay, it's not chalala, not a hard built swallow, |
| 1:54.1 | chaliyah, or chaliyah, chiala, that's not my name, same my name, |
| 2:19.3 | keep it low key, I'm a profile, I raise the bar when I come through, |
| 2:22.8 | you already know it's gonna go down, my name's not a hard to pronounce, |
| 2:26.5 | pre-case not profound, C-H-A-I-L-A, sound the words out, |
| 2:31.6 | it's not chalay, it's not chalala, not a hard built swallow, |
... |
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