B.I.G Mule: The Teacher, Artist and Rastafari Thinker Carrying Kabwe’s Sound to Mpika
There are musicians you meet on a stage, musicians you discover through a song, and then there are musicians whose stories become intertwined with your own journey. For me, B.I.G Mule belongs to the third category.
Long before our music found its way into a recording studio, our paths crossed in the world of education. We were young men finding our way, studying, teaching, thinking about the future and, somewhere in between, discovering that music was refusing to leave us alone.
His name is Mulenga Pule, but to those who know him through music, he is B.I.G Mule : a teacher by profession, painter, musician, lover of history, geography, mathematics and art, and a strong Rastafari believer whose worldview often stretches beyond the ordinary.
Today, he is based in Mpika, but his story remains deeply connected to Kabwe, a city that has produced generations of musicians, artists and cultural storytellers.
From “Chikasalanga” to a musical journey
B.I.G Mule began making his presence felt on the Zambian music scene following the release of “Chikasalanga” in 2013.
For an emerging musician, releasing a song is one thing. Building a musical identity around that song is another. B.I.G Mule's journey gradually opened doors to collaborations with names such as hardcore rapper Muzo, Ron Kay of Zedpride, Jerry Fingers and other artists.
But perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of his musical history is that his journey did not exist in isolation.
During his early prime, B.I.G Mule had the opportunity to work with one of Kabwe's legendary artist Emmy roots of the late 1990s and early 2000s. A period when Zambian music was developing its own distinct sound and artists from provincial towns were contributing to the country's growing musical identity.
That connection placed B.I.G Mule within a much bigger story: the passing of musical knowledge from one generation to another.
When teaching and music crossed paths
I first crossed paths with B.I.G Mule in 2014, when I was doing my teaching practice at Lukanga Primary School.
At the time, he was studying at Parglory University, while I was studying at Immaculata Teachers College.
We were both students preparing for professional lives in education. But beneath the books, assignments and teaching practice were two people carrying another passion "music".
As our friendship grew, we began introducing each other to our music.
That exchange became important to my own musical journey because B.I.G Mule later introduced me to the humble Ron Kay from Zedpride. What initially looked like an ordinary friendship between two aspiring teachers eventually became a bridge connecting musicians, ideas and creative possibilities.
This is one of the beautiful things about creative communities. Sometimes the most important collaborations do not begin with contracts, managers or record labels. They begin with friendship.
From friendship to “Take Me Away”
Eventually, B.I.G Mule and I found ourselves doing what musicians naturally do when ideas begin to connect: we recorded music together.
The result was “Take Me Away,” a collaboration between B.I.G Mule and myself.
The record was produced by Uncle Remo, one of Kabwe's respected and legendary producers, at TQRV.
For me, the song represents more than another entry in a catalogue of recordings. It carries a piece of a particular period in our lives the friendships, the musical experimentation, the people we met and the creative environment that surrounded us.
Songs can become time capsules.
Years later, you can hear a familiar voice, a particular beat or a line from an old recording and suddenly find yourself transported back to a place you thought you had forgotten.
“Take Me Away” is one of those records for me.
The teacher who sees the world differently
What makes B.I.G Mule interesting is that music is only one part of his identity.
He is a teacher, and perhaps that helps explain his fascination with subjects such as history, geography and mathematics. He is also a painter, giving him another language through which to interpret the world.
Then there is music the space where these different interests appear to meet.
His love for history gives him an appreciation of where things come from. Geography reminds him that people, cultures and ideas are connected by place and movement. Mathematics introduces patterns and structure. Art gives him imagination. Music brings everything together.
There is something particularly fascinating about an educator who is also an artist.
Teaching is fundamentally about communication. So is songwriting.
A teacher uses words to open the mind of a learner. A musician uses sound to open the mind of a listener. In both cases, the communicator is trying to make another person see, feel or understand something differently.
Perhaps this is why B.I.G Mule has always struck me as someone with a Mumba Yachi kind of philosophy the kind of artistic thinking that does not see music merely as entertainment, but as a vehicle for ideas, identity, history and reflection.
More than a Kabwe musician
Today, B.I.G Mule is based in Mpika, but geographical distance does not erase the creative roots that shaped him.
His story is also a reminder that Zambian music does not only belong to Lusaka's studios or the country's biggest stages. Musical histories are being written in Kabwe, Mpika and countless other towns by artists who often build their careers quietly, through friendships, experimentation and persistence.
For me, remembering B.I.G Mule is therefore not simply remembering a musician.
It is remembering a fellow teacher, a creative mind, a painter, a believer, a lover of knowledge and a friend who became part of my own musical story.
And somewhere between the classroom and the recording studio, our paths crossed long enough to create something that could outlive that particular moment.
That is the magic of music.
You may forget where you were when a song was recorded. You may forget the equipment used or the long conversations that preceded it. But years later, press play and suddenly, the past comes back singing.
If you want to hear a piece of that journey for yourself, check out “Take Me Away” by Netbustar featuring B.I.G Mule, produced by Uncle Remo, on Audiomack.
KASONDE24 continues to document the people, memories and stories behind the music that has helped shape our communities.
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