By BEAUTY LUPIYA

DARK sunglasses, military green head dress, black jogging shoes, and a day old beard.

No body can doubt that Davies Gerson Ngoma is a real rapper! His fans know him as Nasty D. But in reality, he is not that Nasty. He does not have a criminal record. He doesn't even smoke - and he drinks Fanta!

Sunday Mail met the Zambian rapper and his fellow musician, Louis Mutale Kaluya at Manda Hill shopping centre of Lusaka for an interview.

Spotting a ring on his earlobe and a wide smile which reveals his snow-white teeth, Ngoma explains about his stage name.

"The word Nasty does not mean that I'm nasty. It's a slang word meaning that I'm good, untouchable when I get on stage and grab the microphone," says the 26-year old rap musician who was recently on top of the Zambian top 10 music chart.

His latest album, Nyanjalize-Bembalize seems to hit right on target when it comes to attracting Zambians with a taste for international rap rhythms, with genuine Zambian lyrics.

"Our music is not like American rap. We don't sing about pistols and knives and violence. Personally, I have never even touched a gun, so how can I write songs about that kind of stuff," he says.

"Our music has to reflect on our personal lives and the daily life in Zambia, not the big city ghetto in the United States," says Ngoma who believes more in humour than in terror.

Nasty D. is one of the Zambian musicians who tries to combine the modern rhythms of rap music with the old Zambian traditions. He records best songs in two native Zambian languages - Nyanja and Bemba.

"Our first song was in English, but we soon found out that there was a bigger need for songs in our own local languages. So, we now use a mixture of different languages, just like the slang that most Zambians are using in the street," Ngoma says.

Other rap bands such as Muvi Posse, MC Wabwino and Daddy Zemus are also singing in local languages. In fact, the love of local slang has made Zambian rap music a unique cultural heritage only for most Zambians to understand. "Historically Zambia has been strongly influenced by English language and culture for many years. Now it is time for us to go back to our roots and our old Zambian traditions," says Ngoma who was brought up with international music like rap on radio and TV, just like most of his age mates.

"That's the kind of music we know. Now, I try to follow my own taste and my friends', but with a strong Zambian touch," says Ngoma who finds his inspiration in the streets, in the market and in the bus.

Sunday Mail asked a number of young people about their taste for rap music. Most of them pointed out Nasty D. as one of their favourites.

"Many American rappers use swear words and other dirty words, and I don't like that. Their songs are usually full of insults," says Meya Banda, 17.

"Nasty D. is different. He is not rude. He is more himself. Maybe it's because he doesn't try to imitate the American rappers. He's a real Zambian. He only copies the good side of rap music, not the bad side," Banda says.

Others, however, find Zambian rappers artificial when they sing in Nyanja and Bemba, instead of English.

"They should rather rap in English like the rappers from the USA," says 13-year-old Ian Chisanga who claims that most Zambia rappers are merely copies of real rappers - "except Nasty D. who is a good singer."