Rhymson

Rhymson
Born	Ramadhani Mponjika (1968-11-24) 24 November 1968 (age 56) Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Other names	Zavara Mponjika, Mwanavina, R.H.Y.M.S.O.N
Occupations	songwriter record producer groupleader
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocal
Years active	1988–

Ramadhani Mponjika, better known by his stage name MC Rhymson, is a Tanzanian rapper, songwriter, record producer, and leader in the hip hop scene.

In the late 1980s, Rhymson founded his own hip hop group, the Villain Gangsters. Within the next decade, the hip hop scene in Dar es Salaam expanded. There was a divide between artists promoting a localized, populist sound and those who preferred a purist stye inspired by American Hip Hop, often performed in English. Kwanza Unit ^[1] , co-founded by Rhymson and other major Tanzanian rappers, became a leading voice of the latter movement. According to Rhymson the group was formed "in response to the outcome of Yo Rap Bonanza, which member felt did not reflect their vision of authentic hip hop". ^[2] ˜

The struggling Tanzanian economy and the rise of ‘hip hop nationalism’ served as a broader socio-economic backdrop for the group expansion of what MC Rhymson termed the ‘Kiswacentric’ concept. Rhymson's efforts to create this hip hop nation, coined Kwanzania, is one of his largest contributions to Tanzania's hip hop scene as he tried to create a hypothetical community whose "cementing force is hip hop."

Creating this hypothetical, yet important space for hip hop in Tanzania was a way to unite rappers to lyrically express their culture, values and goals, and overall way of life. Rhymson along with the other members of Kwanza unit developed ideologies and ethics to accompany the concept of Kwanzania to romanticize and idealize these hip hop artists involved as "heroic warriors resisting oppression" echoing an old mentality of rising a country from a colonial state into an independent country called ujamaa. ^[3]

In 2011, he was a principal organizer of Words and Pictures (WAPI), an initiative ran by the British Council encouraging and inspiring Tanzanian youth to use their culture as a means of free expression.

Rhymson currently lives in Canada with his wife.

Discography

Kwanza Unit produced three albums, Tucheze, (1994), Tropical Tekniqs, (1995) and Kwanzanians (1999), the latter of which received the most support. ^[4] Rhymson received producer credits for Kwanzanians and the group's 1996 joint album with Kamakazi (6) and P.Funk, Run Tingz & Dedicated

Rhymson continues to produce music independently including solo projects and home recorded beats. ^[4] In 2013, he produced the song “In The Congo”. ^[5]

References

1. Clark, Msia Kibona (2018). Hip-Hop in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers. Ohio University Press. p. 312. ISBN   9780896803190 . Retrieved 18 April 2018.
2. Brennan, James, ed. (2007). Dar es Salaam. Histories from an Emerging African Metropolis. Mkuki Na Nyota. p. 261. ISBN   978-9987449705 . Retrieved 18 April 2018.
3. 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, pp. 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press
4. Tanzanian Hip Hop: The Old School (1991-1999); africanhiphop.com; accessdate 5 March 2008.
5. Clark, Msia Kibona (2014-10-05). "The Role of New and Social Media in Tanzanian Hip-Hop Production". Cahiers d'études africaines (216): 1115–1136. doi:10.4000/etudesafricaines.17958. ISSN   0008-0055.