Kondwelani Tembo Nguluwe Biography

Born Kondwelani Nguluwe on December 5,1994, in Zambia's Lusaka city, Smiley NTK Thefir5t (or simply Smiley Thefir5t) is a multi-faceted Artist, proficient in Spoken Word Poetry, Singing/Song Writing, Acting/Directing/Script-writing, among others. He is a keen artist who loves to explore and experiment in different avenues of art (different styles, forms and genres of music, as well as of writing) , and has love for Christ Jesus. He is called Smiley because he smiled a lot, even when being scolded, or after being beaten. Ever smile. And he is called Thefir5t because he was born fifth and is the first to go grades 1 to 12, minus dropping out, or repeating a grade (the rest is forthcoming) . Hence Smiley Thefir5t. He grew up chiefly in Matero and Chazanga townships, moving between the two places on school days and holidays, respectively. He had his primary education at Lady Tee, and Kizito Basic (now Primary) Schools. His secondary education was done at Twalumba Basic (now Primary) School for his junior, and Highland High (now Secondary) School for his senior. All throughout his education, he was seen as mostly anti-social, always keeping to himself, but was ready to respond to queries headed his way, after careful thought. Smiley Thefir5t's love for literary art began while he was still in his first grade. As he was mostly the first to be done with the given class work, his teacher would call him to her desk and give him pictures from which she asked him to create a story, in his own words, based on the given pictures. That was in 2003. From then on, in his free time, he would write down his dreams (nightmares mostly) , comments he couldn't say out loud, or just some random thoughts. Things he would keep in a book in his backpack and revisit over time. In eighth grade,2012, he took up Art and Design, inspired by the crafts his elder brother and cousin made. He carried this subject through the ensuing years, up to twelfth grade. In ninth grade, in 2011, he joined a crew of youths, led by Mr Elias Kapilia as both director and mentor, on the production of an unreleased drama called Ghetto as an extra. The group later disbanded, and reformed in some years. In August of 2013, driven by boredom and spinning the tuner from end to end, he stumbled upon a radio show called Soul Tuesday's. This re-ignited his passion for poetry, and he following the deliveries of numerous poets, Smiley Thefir5t penned his first poem titled 'Wisdom'. He would record the poems of Christolla, Ravish'n, Blindfold, Daniel Beaty and Magnifire on his phone listen to them, and from the poems' structure he would create his own works, gradually improving his skill. This then led to his first performance - with the poem 'This Is It' - before his classmates - the following year - and the creation of the group Blaak Roots Poets, along with his two classmates, Simon Ndauzi and Victor Tembo. Currently, he is the founder and co-founder of E.P.I.C Motion Media and Blaak Roots Poets, respectively.