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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.
Bongo Flava is a nickname for Tanzanian music. The genre developed in the 1990s,mainly as a derivative of American hip hop and traditional Tanzanian styles such as taarab and dansi,with additional influences from reggae,R&B,and afrobeats,to form a unique style of music. Lyrics are usually in Swahili or English,although increasingly from mid 2000s there has been limited use of words from Sub-Saharan African music traditions due to the influence of Afrobeats and Kwaito with their dynamics usage of West African Pidgin English,Nigerian Pidgin or other Creole language.
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.
Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania,Africa,with an urban population of 649,000 in 2023. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region.
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.
Juma Nature is a Tanzanian Bongo Flava recording artist and record producer.
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.
Joseph Haule,popularly known by his stage name Professor Jay,is a Tanzanian hip hop recording artist,politician and former member of the Tanzanian parliament for Mikumi constituency. He is one of the prominent representatives of the "Bongo Flava" Tanzanian hip hop subgenre,which mixes elements from both Western hip hop and the Tanzanian tradition.
Gangwe Mobb is a Tanzanian hip hop group. They come from Temeke neighborhood in Dar es Salaam. It has two members:Inspector Haroun and Luteni Kalama. The group was established in late 1990s soon after Kwanza Unit,Mr. II and other had popularized Swahili hip hop music in Tanzania. The name "Gangwe" is derived from a popular 1980s slang term meaning "hardcore". In context,gangwe refers to the grimy and ghetto hip hop mentality that comprise most of their songs.
East African urban music is a popular music genre of the three countries customarily grouped as "East Africa":Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda. The genre is basically an offshoot of western popular music,particularly hip hop and funk,somewhat influenced by more traditional African music. Kapuka,genge,and bongo flava are some of the subgenres which have arisen in this style.
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Boomba music,also referred to as kapuka,is a form of hip pop music popular in Kenya. It incorporates hip hop,reggae and African traditional musical styles. The lyrics are in Swahili,Sheng or local dialects. It is associated with the Ogopa Deejays and is believed to have originated in the late 1990s with artists such as Redsan,Bebe Cool and Chameleone. It went on to dominate East African airwaves after the release of the Ogopa Deejays' first album in 2001,which included artists such as the late E-Sir,Nameless,Mr. Lenny,Amani,Mr. Googz and Vinnie Banton amongst others.
Dataz is a Tanzanian rap artist and she is among few earliest female hip hop musicians in the country.
Saleh J,prominent Tanzanian hip hop pioneer,was born in Dar es Salaam as Saleh Jaber.
The term "wahuni" is a Tanzanian slang term meaning "hooligans." Wahuni refers specifically to youth of the hip-hop generation of the 1990s in Tanzania. The use of such a negative terminology indicates the cultural hostility toward hip-hop within the nation.
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.
Espen Sørensen,known professionally as Mzungu Kichaa,is a Danish singer and musician. He was born in Denmark,but grew up in Tanzania,where his parents worked in the field of Development Cooperation. They went there when he was six years old. In Tanzania,he learned to speak Swahili fluently,and later on,he got involved in music and particularly in the production of Bongo Flava at Bongo Records. The latest outcome of his interest in East African music is his first solo album "Tuko Pamoja".
Zenji flava is a common nickname for Zanzibari hip hop,a genre that began to develop in the 1990s. The name is made of zenji,which is slang for "Zanzibar",and flava,which is a corruption of "flavour",thus meaning "of Zanzibari taste". As with bongo flava,i.e.,Tanzanian mainland's hip hop,zenji flava is usually sung in swahili;the main difference between the two subgenres is that Zanzibari hip hop also reflects some influence of taarab,and thus indirectly of Arab music and Indian music. Notable zenji flava artists include Ali Haji. As Zenji flavour goes on it find itself as a sub part of Bongo flava as it has influence from the young generation of artists who want to cop with Bongo flava. like Offside trick,2 berry now is separated to form two solo artists,Wazenji kijiwe and Shaka zulu,others are East connection which was made up with almost seven groups of artist including Offside trick Brooklyn,Four nature,Jumbo camp,Queen love,and K jam. It was in this time that Zenji flava was modernized with rapid growth in the number of artists.
References
- ↑ "Member of Parliament CV". Parliament of Tanzania. 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ Microsoft Word – Stichproben_Nr5_FERTIG.doc Archived 10 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 Bongoflava: The Primer – Pop Playground – Stylus Magazine
- 1 2 BBC – Africa On Your Street – Hosts – JJC – November 2004 – Hip-Hop in Kenya and Tanzania
- ↑ Lemelle, Sidney J.| 'Ni Wapi Tunakwenda': Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha|In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press.
- 1 2 http://www.nubianunderground.com/nu/main/chamber/?id=10151 Archived 4 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine The Chamber Press Release. Date Posted: June 2005 PST Submitted By Sir Prestige/Social-Misfit Entertainment
- ↑ Winner of the African Hiphop.com remix competition for Sugu’s “Moto chini”. 3 January 2008, Copyright © 2007 BAB KUBWA · Web Design by Bab Kubwa Media
- ↑ http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/pop_playground/bongoflava-the-primer.htm Bongoflava: The Primer. 7 March 2008.
- ↑ "Bongo Flava :: Tanzanian Hiphop Fusion Online :: Swahili Music". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2008. 7 March 2008.
- ↑ Tanzania Music Awards – Nominees 2005
- ↑ The Habari.com, Nov19, 2010: Tanzanian hip-hop legend Joseph Mbilinyi takes oath as MP
