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Dataz | |
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| Born | 1984 (age 39–40) |
| Origin | Morogoro, Tanzania |
| Genres | R&B • Hip Hop • Bongo Flava • Tanzanian hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer • Rapper • Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Dataz is a Tanzanian rap artist and she is among few earliest female hip hop musicians in the country.
She was born in 1984 on the shores of Lake Nyasa in Mbamba Bay. Later she moved with her parents to Morogoro where she began her primary education. When Dataz was attending her secondary school, Ifunda, her talent for music became apparent.
Dataz first started performing with fellow female rapper Bad G, while they performed together for a period of time the two are now pursuing solo careers. Dataz first single “Kitimtim” topped the charts of several radio stations in Tanzania
Dataz blames the lack of female rappers in Tanzania for the fact that MCing and DJing are associated with hooliganism and masculinity, most popularly through the mimicking of American gangsta rap, a genre that has a large lyrical base in the subjugation of women. While American hip hop is full of references that subjugate woman, Swahili rap doesn't have the same language use towards women. Because religion plays a large role in most rappers lives, they come to a crossroads when they attempt to imitate gangsta rap with the subjugation of women. This leaves both a gap in artists authenticity which is just as important in Swahili rap as it is in American rap, but also leaves open a larger place in the hip hop scene for women to enter. [1]
Fellow female rap artist Tuni of the Nubian Motown Crew says that “many girls shy away from engaging in rap due to the attitude that rap is a male thing and is associated with gangs, violence and all manner of evil.” Something that is lacking in Swahili rap, but is dominant in its influence, American hip hop. [2]
French hip hop or commonly French rap, is the hip hop music style developed in French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States.
Turkish hip hop refers to hip hop music produced by members of the Turkish minority in Germany, and to a lesser degree by hip hop artists in Turkey. The Turkish minority, called the Turks, first drew inspiration from the discrimination and racism they received while living as migrant workers in Germany in the 1960s. Turkish hip hop uses Arabesk music, a folk style that finds its roots in Turkey during the 1960s, and is influenced by the hip hop music of America and Germany. Album artwork, lyrical content, and the Turkish language are used by hip hop artists to express their uniquely Turkish identity.
As it is in other countries, the music in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes, and varies by location, people, settings and occasion. The five music genres in Tanzania, as defined by BASATA are, ngoma, dansi, kwaya, and taarab, with bongo flava being added in 2001. Singeli has since the mid-2000s been an unofficial music of uswahilini, unplanned communities in Dar es Salaam, and is the newest mainstream genre since 2020.
Joseph Mbilinyi, known for his stage names Mr. II, Sugu and 2-proud, is a Tanzanian politician, human rights activist and rapper. He was a Mbeya Urban elected member of Parliament from 2010 to 2020.
Hip hop music arrived in Cuba via radio and TV broadcasts from Miami. During the 1980s hip hop culture in Cuba was mainly centered on breakdancing. But by the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Special Period, young raperos, exposed to foreign tourists whose wealth highlighted their struggle, turned to rapping to affirm their cubanidad and advocate for further revolutionary reforms.
The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika. The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere in July 1954 when he was teaching at St. Francis' College. From 1964 the party was called the Tanzania African National Union. In January 1977 the TANU merged with the ruling party in Zanzibar, the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), to form the current Revolutionary State Party or Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The policy of TANU was to build and maintain a socialist state aiming towards economic self-sufficiency and to eradicate corruption and exploitation, with the major means of production and exchange under the control of the peasants and workers.
Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes referred to Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop.
X Plastaz is a Tanzanian hip hop musical group based in Arusha and founded in 1996. They are one of the most popular acts in the Tanzanian hip hop scene. Their style mixes elements from international hip hop and traditional Maasai music, represented by Maasai singer Merege. While Merege sings in maa, the other members of the group rap in swahili and haya. Merege is also well known to perform in traditional Maasai clothing.
Following Tanganyika's independence (1961) and unification with Zanzibar (1964), leading to the formation of the state of Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what has been regarded by some commentators as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa.
Kwanza Unit (KU) was an early Tanzanian hip hop group. Its name means "First Unit" and it was formed in 1993 by a merger of several groups and solo artists. They started rapping in English, but later used Swahili as well.
Ujamaa was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961.
Dully Sykes is a Tanzanian Bongo Flava musician, songwriter, record producer and composer.
Baraza la Muziki la Taifa was a national council created in 1974 by the government of the newly independent Tanzania. Its purpose was to regulate the music business in the country, in the context of a wider programme intended to create a solidified national identity. This, in turn, was a crucial element in Ujamaa, President Julius Nyerere's version of african socialism. Similar institutions were founded to rule over other aspects of the nation's culture, including the nationwide adoption of Swahili language and the development of Tanzanian art (BASATA). The overall idea was to build a new popular culture for the workers and peasants of the country, free from the heritage of colonialism and bourgeoisie culture.
Zavara Mponjika or simply MC Rhymson is a rapper from Tanzania who was the founder of the Villain Gangsters and a founding member of Kwanza Unit.
Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam is a radio service in Tanzania.
Balozi Dola,a.k.a.Balozi or Dolasoul, is a self-proclaimed “socially conscious” hip hop artist from Tanzania.
Saleh J, prominent Tanzanian hip hop pioneer, was born in Dar es Salaam as Saleh Jaber.
The annual Yo Rap Bonanza, created in the early 1990s in Tanzania, was a rap talent show organized by Kim and the Boys with Ibony Moalim and was sponsored by local Indian merchants. The first show was made in 1993 and the second and last was in 1995. Kim and Ibony were key figure on this event. It is generally recognized as the first major hip-hop competition in Tanzania. The talent show attracted large crowds with its diverse and unique delivery of rhymes from different artists.
Ramazani "Remmy" Mtoro Ongala was a Tanzanian guitarist and singer. Ongala was born in Kindu near the Tanzanian border, in what was the Belgian Congo at the time, and now is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Krauts with Attitude was released in 1991 under the Bombastic label. The album was compiled by DJs Michael Reinboth and Katmando. It features 15 different acts; three rapped in German, eleven in English, and one in French. This release was the first compilation of German hip-hop, and essentially helped create a hip-hop scene in Germany.
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