Emmanuel Mulemena was one of the most influential folk singers in Zambia. His lyrics appealed to a widespread audience as he sang in all of Zambia's principal languages.

Mulemena was born in 1937 in the Kasempa District of Zambia. In the 1950s, he became a primary school teacher. He taught his pupils music, but his love for traditional Zambian genres meant he faced opposition from the colonial government and the mission school system who felt that traditional African music and folklore propagated belief in witchcraft. A former pupil reported that Mulemena would take his pupils into the hills to practice music, in defiance of this opposition.

In the early 1960s, Mulemena moved to Lusaka to work at the Northern Rhodesia Broadcasting Services as a radio presenter and producer. Throughout the 1960s, Mulemena became a pioneer, mastering the skill of singing in many languages and becoming one of the first African musicians to use a drum machine. He founded a band named Mulemena and the Sound Inspectors, which combined traditional and Western music to create songs that became hits. He also popularised Kaonde, Manchancha, and Shonongo dance music in Zambia.

Mulemena died after a long illness in 1982 at the height of his career. His band changed their name to the Mulemena Boys in honour of his legacy.

Mulemena was one of the few Zambian musicians who sang in three languages – Kaonde, Bemba and Nyanja.