The doctor who delivered dancehall

Just like the hip-hop fraternity has Real Elements and Boys Lazy, the newly born genre of ragga muffin had Dast, which comprised Dr Lizard, Annie Matumbi, San B and Teargas.

Each one of the individuals had their uniqueness in their approach to the genre. But Malawi never got to get all of the talent from the pioneer of the group—Dr Lizard.

Dr Lizard was born Malumbo Chisiza on April 6 1975 at Likuni Hospital in Lilongwe, but started to use the Dr Lizard moniker after his venture into music.

Because of the nature of her mother’s job, who was working in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chisizas kept on moving from place to place.

It was this nomadic life that made Malumbo to attend several schools in the country before pursuing a marketing course at Star College in Blantyre.

His brother, Manase Chisiza, narrates that Dr Lizard was influenced by their parents’ love for music.

“Our parents liked to make us sing in a choir and listen to us. Our father would record us singing. It was fun. We all joined a sunday school choir, but as he grew, his interest to sing in the choir diminished,” said Manase.

However, when he was at home he used to sing a lot.

But it was when he met Chris Chipwaila alias Chris Kele in Mzimba that  they formed a do-it-yourself band, playing locally found materials.

“When we went to Chikwawa in Ngabu in 1994, he met Chiyanjano Muhezuwa [alias Annie Matumbi] and they also started a band. But when he was growing up he started mimicking artists like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice,” said Manase.

Then later, he started writing his own songs and frequented contesting in rap and ragga competitions, most of which he won.

“When he was at Viphya Secondary School, he met Lameck Soko and Elvis Ching’oma who were playing keyboards and had some at home. He ditched ready-made instrumentals and started making his own. From then he switched from hip hop to dancehall music,” he said.

The artist debuted with Oneness in 1997 in which he featured Anne Matumbi, Teargas and San B, who collectively came to be called the Dast.

Eventually, Dr Lizard joined the music group House of Lions, which he led to victory at the inaugural Malawi Gin Music Competition where he played alongside reggae musician Sally Nyundo, who describes the departed musician as a go-getter and a hard worker who set his goals clear and always strived to achieve them.

“Malumbo was a multi-talented guy who was good at the many things he did. He was also a complete theatre artist who could write, act and direct plays too,” said Nyundo.

The Ras Amadya Nzimbe hit-maker said he first heard of Dr Lizard after a collaboration with a dancehall clique, which they called from the initials of their names Dast (Dr Lizard, Annie Matumbi, San B and Teargas).

“Later, we met at a concert at lilongwe Community Centre Ground where we shared the stage,” recalls Nyundo.

He commended the fallen ragga hero for his strong vocal ability and uniqueness in style and musical identity.

“He was not like other dancehall artists then who mimicked Jamaican artists. He enriched House of Lions with his rich talent and variety. He brought another dimension to dancehall as he was one of the artists who could sound beautifully in his Chichewa dancehall songs,” he explained.

His music band mate from Dast, Annie Matumbi, described him as one of the most hardworking artists he has ever come across.

“He was a nice person, full of jokes. He made making music fun,” said Matumbi.

Dr Lizard was found dead on his 28th birthday on April 6 2003. The cause of his death remains a mystery as an autopsy did could not indicate a cause.