Augusten Basa grew up in a family of traditional musicians and dancers. He started dancing, playing marimbas and drumming in his aunt Irene Chigamba’s group, the Mhembero Dance Troupe, at a young age, performing traditional Zimbabwean music and dance around Zimbabwe. In 2010 he moved to Oakland, California and started dancing and playing music with his family in the Chinyakare Ensemble. He has performed around the US, as well as accompanying his mother, Julia Chigamba, in her classes at Oakland schools.