THE kitchen has remained eerily quiet in 2025 as Zambia’s self-styled ‘Numero Uno’, rapper Kondwani Kaira alias Chef 187, has left his loyal fans licking empty plates with no fresh solo meal served this entire year.
For an artiste whose brand is built around cooking up hit after hit, Chef has oddly kept the four plate cooker cold, watching months roll by without dropping a single standalone song of his own which has left many of his followers grumbling that the chef has gone on an unexplained hunger strike.
Chef 187’s last proper feast came in 2023 when he released his album Broke Nolunkumbwa, a project that was widely received and cemented his place among Zambia’s rap elite.
Since then, fans have been waiting for the next big dish, only to be met with silence through the whole of 2025.
While the rapper has not completely disappeared from the music scene, his appearances have been more like side dishes than the main course his fans crave.
In May 2024, he dropped tracks such as Spyling Freestyles and 360, the latter featuring veteran singer James Sakala, showing flashes that the kitchen was still operational.
Chef has also been spotted popping up on other people’s plates, lending his lyrical flavour to collaborations, including a feature on Umusepela Crown’s ‘occasionally’, Dizzo West’s ‘Peace Mucipalakasa’, the latest Chile One’s ‘Te Mafia aya’ and many others.
But for fans, features are not enough.
According to hints he has been putting out, the ‘Numero Uno’ may be carefully preparing his next big project behind the scenes.
“Big man give us a song not just these pictures you are posting,” a fan commented on his page.
Still, as the year edges closer to the end, pressure continues to mount on Chef 187 to finally return to the kitchen and serve his fans a proper solo dish, lest 2025 goes down as the year Numero Uno starved the very people who made him king of the rap table including this author.
By George Musonda
Kalemba December 31, 2025
