Born in Morogoro (Tanzania), Ras Nas, aka Nasibu Mwanukuzi, is a musician and poet from Tanzania who blends African music and reggae with a dash of poetry. Ras Nas' latest album, Dar-es-Salaam, contains roots reggae, soukous and dub poetry. It is released by Kongoi Productions, KonPro. Dar es Salaam has received a five star review in one of Norway's biggest dailies, Dagsavisen.
Recently[when?], Ras Nas was featured on BBC World Service, The Beat program. The weekly program, reaching millions of listeners worldwide, is presented by Mark Coles. Other artists on the program were Wyclef Jean and Zoe Rahman.
Ras Nas' latest CD Dar-es-Salaam contains a mix of reggae and African music, soukous. In this CD Ras Nas has worked with a number of musicians from nine different countries. These include Norwegian blues guitarist and singer Knut Reiersrud, Rolf Erik Nystrøm, Keppy Kiombile from Kilimanjaro Band, Norman Bikaka from Shada Band and drummer Uriel Seri from Ivory Coast.
Ras Nas aka Nasibu started writing African poetry at the age of 17 and experimented with various forms of African chanting and African drumming. Ran short of paint. Studied Law at the University of Dar es Salaam where he graduated with an LLB degree in 1984. Ras Nas has worked as a journalist for Daily News as well as a correspondent for Africa magazine, covering mainly cultural issues.
During his youth Ras Nas listened to a lot of Tanzanian music by guitarists like Wema Abdallah, Mbaraka Mwinshehe and his Likembe Mahoka style (from Morogoro), Segere Matata (from Tabora) as well as Michael Enok of Dar Jazz, from Dar es Salaam.
Other influences is from the Congolese maestros like Luambo Makiadi and his T.P OK Jazz, Dr. Nico of African Fiesta Sukisa and countless other African musicians who have helped to mold African music and inspired another generation of musicians. More impulses came from Caribbean music of the late 1960s which was popular in East Africa. Also influenced by the early reggae greats, the likes of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, and Linton Kwesi Johnson, to name but a few. All this has helped to shape Ras Nas' musical style.
In 1982 Nasibu co-founded a powerful poetry and drama group Sayari in Dar es Salaam. The group combined African music, poetry, miming, dance and drama and toured extensively in Scandinavia. Moved on to Oslo in 1985 to study Mass Communications at the University of Oslo, UIO.
In 1985 he initiated "Umoja" group in Oslo which blended traditional African music and dance. He also co-founded Artists for Liberation, a forerunner to Nordic Black Theater. In 1989 he published his first collection of African poetry, Double Focus, (Kongoi Productions). Together with Reginald T. Oliver (Papa Lion) and James Toney Jr., he formed Nasibu and the Dual Vision, a trio that performed rhythmic poetry coated with vibrant African chanting, harmonies and drumming. The trio changed its name to The Cold Fire, bringing in a Zimbabwean bassist, Clive Brown, and produced a music cassette during a tour in Germany.
In 1990 Nasibu went solo and formed his own band under his artist name, Ras Nas. The band had a début concert in July 1991, at a party to mark the 99th anniversary of Emperor Haile Selassie I. The party was organized by the Rastafari Cultural Foundation in Oslo. The year after, Ras Nas performed for Nelson Mandela, celebrating his release from Robben Island prison. This happened in Oslo, on Mr. Mandela's first visit to Norway.
In 1997 he produced Ras Nas's début CD Cut You Loose, (Kongoi Productions). (RNCD9701), working together with Charles Mena from Nicaragua; Chuck Frazier, a musician from Texas; and Ishamel de Leon from Trinidad.
Ras Nas tracks can also be found in other music compilations, the most notable being AMUN Tropical Acts vol.1, a compilation by African musicians living in Norway and RAW 2000 by Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide.
Some earlier festivals
Spring Festival 2010, Cairo and Beirut - May 2010 Galle Music Festival, Sri Lanka - December 2009 Oslo World Music Festival - 3 November 2007 Oslo Mela - 18 August 2007 World Performing Arts and Music Festival - Lahore (Pakistan). Nov. 2006 Oslo Mela Festival (with Ngoma Rhythms). August 2006 Zanzibar International Film Festival (with Mandingo Trio). July 2006
Dar es Salaam is the largest city and Business capital of Tanzania. With over six million people, it is the largest city in East Africa and the fifth-largest in Africa. On the Swahili coast, Dar es Salaam is an important economic centre and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. According to the UN population projection, the city is expected to host approximately 73 million people in 2100, more than the whole population of the country today at 61 million people.
As in other countries, the musical production in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes. Music listened to by Tanzanians today stretches from traditional African music or the string-based taarab to a distinctive hip hop known as bongo flava.
Linton Kwesi Johnson, also known as LKJ, is a Jamaican dub poet and activist who has been based in the United Kingdom since 1963. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell.
Those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar. Articles related to Tanzania include:
The earliest evidence of Hinduism in Tanzania is from the 1st millennium AD when there was trade between East Africa and Indian subcontinent. Most of these traders came from Gujarat, Deccan and the Chola empire. Archaeological evidence of small Hindu settlements have been found in Zanzibar and parts of Swahili coast, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
The Tanzania FA Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Tanzanian football.
Muziki wa dansi, or simply dansi, is a Tanzanian music genre, derivative of Congolese soukous. It is sometimes called Swahili jazz because most dansi lyrics are in Swahili, and "jazz" is an umbrella term used in Central and Eastern Africa to refer to soukous, highlife, and other dance music and big band genres. Muziki wa dansi can also be referred to as Tanzanian rumba, as "african rumba" is another name for soukous.
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.
The CECAFA Club Cup is a football club tournament organised by CECAFA. It has been known as the Kagame Interclub Cup since 2002, when Rwandan President Paul Kagame began sponsoring the competition. It is contested by clubs from East and Central Africa.
Exim Bank (Tanzania) (EBT), is a commercial bank in Tanzania, the second-largest economy in the East African Community. The bank is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, which is the country's central bank and national banking regulator.
Dar es Salaam Community Bank (DCB), whose official name is DCB Commercial Bank, but is commonly referred to as DCB Bank, is a commercial bank in Tanzania. It is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, the central bank and national banking regulator.
The Cuban Marimba Band was an influential Tanzanian big band from the city of Morogoro. It was founded in 1948 by Salum Abdullah, who had previously formed the Morogoro Jazz Band. For about twenty years, Cuban Marimba was one of the most popular muziki wa dansi bands in Tanzania.
Absa Bank Tanzania Limited (ABT), formerly Barclays Bank Tanzania Limited, is a commercial bank in Tanzania and a subsidiary of South Africa-based Absa Group Limited. ABT is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, the country's central bank and national banking regulator.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Jhikoman is a well-known Tanzanian reggae artist. He has served as an active musician since 1994 and toured extensively in both Europe and Africa. He combines acoustic reggae with African music. Jhikoman sings in English, Swahili and mother tongue Kinyasa.
Diamond Trust Bank (Tanzania) Limited (DTBT) is a commercial bank in Tanzania, licensed by the Bank of Tanzania.
The Tanzanian First Division League is the second tier of league football in Tanzania. The league is divided into three groups, each consisting of eight teams.
Songs for the Poor Man is the first studio album and second album overall by Tanzanian soukous musician Remmy Ongala and his band Orchestre Super Matimila, released in 1989 on Real World Records. The album follows Ongala's acclaimed appearances at the WOMAD Tour and WOMAD'S release of Naillia Mwana, a compilation of early music by Ongala, two events which gave Ongala international recognition. Songs for the Poor Man was recorded at the WOMAD-affiliated Real World Studios in Wiltshire over three days in May 1989 with production, engineering and mixing help from David Bottrill.
The Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway is a railway system, under construction, linking the country to the neighboring countries of Rwanda and Uganda, and through these two, to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of East African Railway Master Plan. The new Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), is intended to replace the old, inefficient metre-gauge railway system.
Mohamed Issa Haji 'Matona is a Zanzibarian musician. He is a founder and the artistic director of Zanzibar's Dhow Countries Music Academy.
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