| Bongo flava | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hip hop - Tanzanian music |
| Cultural origins | 1990s Tanzania |
| Typical instruments | Bass guitar - drums - guitar - keyboards - percussion - vocals |
| Mainstream popularity | Attention in Africa and worldwide |
| Regional scenes | |
| Dar es Salaam | |
Bongo flava is a nickname for Tanzanian hip hop music. The genre developed in the 1990s, mainly as a derivative of American hip hop, with additional influences from reggae, R&B, afrobeat, dancehall, and traditional Tanzanian styles such as taarab and dansi, a combination that forms a unique style of music.[1] Lyrics are usually in Swahili or English.
The name "bongo flava" is a corruption of "bongo flavour", where "bongo" is the plural form of the swahili word ubongo, meaning "brain", and is a common nickname used to refer to Dar es Salaam, the city where the genre originated.[2] In the bongo flava, the metaphor of "brains" may additionally refer to the cunning and street smarts of the mselah (see below).[3]
The term "bongo flava" was coined,invented,created and first mentioned in 1996 by Radio One's 99.6 FM (One of the first private Radio Stations in Tanzania) popular,witty and charismatic Radio Dj Mike Mhagama (now residing in Los Angeles,California) who was trying to differentiate between American R & B and Hip Hop Music through his popular Radio show known as DJ Show with that of local youngsters music that didn't have,at that time,an indetification of its own.DJ Show was the first Radio Show that accepted young Tanzanian musicians influenced by their Brothers and Sisters in America to express themselves through Singing and Rapping.He said on air "After listening to "R & B Flava" titled No Diggity from the US of A,here comes "Bongo Flava" from Unique Sisters,one of our own".After he said that on his Radio Show,The rest was history with the term "Bongo Flava".
How did the music find its way onto radio? This IS the earliest and most reliable account of how "Bongoflava" found its way onto Tanzanian airways. Taji Liundi also known as Master T, the original creator and producer of the Dj Show program on the private Radio One Stereo station had already started airing songs by fledgling local artists since late 1994. Mike Mhagama later joined the popular program as an under-study to Master T. He went on to produce and present the show alone after Master T had left Radio One in 1996. "Bongoflava" existed well before the first audio or video recordings. Youth in Dar es salaam the capital were rapping at beach concerts(organized by Joseph Kusaga who owned Mawingu Discotheque, later Mawingu Studios and now Clouds Media Group), local concert halls and taking part in the first official Rap competition called Yo!Rap Bonanza series that were promoted by the late Dj Kim "And the Boyz" Magomelo!
Some of the youth were organized with fancy names, some were solo or formed impromptu groups at the event to get a chance to grab the mic. An Icon of the open performance artists in the early 90's was the late enigmatic Adili or Nigga One. The first influential dub artist of the genre was Saleh Jabir who rapped in Kiswahili over Vanilla Ice's, "Ice Ice Baby" instrumental, he was solely responsible for making Kiswahili a viable language to rap in. His version was so popular, it broke rank by receiving mild airplay in the conservative National Radio Tanzania. The first official "rap" to grace the Tanzania airwaves. Unfortunately, we cannot dwell on details of this growth phase for Bongoflava here.
One of the earliest group to actually record and deliver a CD to Radio One for airing was Mawingu band,an outfit that became hugely popular in early 1994. They recorded at Mawingu Studios! Members were Othman Njaidi, Eliudi Pemba, Columba Mwingira, Sindila Assey, "Angela", Robert Chuwa, Boniface Kilosa(Dj Boni Love himself)and later Pamela who sang the famous hook of their breakout first RnB/Rap single "Oya Msela". The song was so popular and ahead of its time that the Msela label stuck. Msela can be translated as Ruffian. Mawingu Band was arguably the pioneer of the RnB flavored type of Bongoflava. Dar Young Mob were the first real hip-hop stylized group to record with Mawingu Studios under budding producer Dj Boni Love. They were the FIRST group to have their rap single aired on private radio in Tanzania.
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Today, bongo flava is the most popular musical style amongst the Tanzanian youth,[4] something that is also reflected in the vast number of TV and radio programs dedicated to this genre as well as the sales figures of bongo flava albums.[5] Outside of its historical home of Tanzania, Bongo Flava has become a resoundingly popular sound in neighboring, culturally related countries such as Kenya[6] and Uganda. Bongo flava has even found a home outside of the African continent; the most popular artists in the genre have recently begin to address Western markets[1] and the self-proclaimed "best internet station for Bongo Flava,"[7] Bongo Radio, happens to be based out of Chicago, Illinois.
Despite the popularity of bongo flava and the large number of well-known artists throughout Tanzania, copying of music is widespread and most artists are unable to make a living selling their music. They must alternatively rely on income from live performances to support themselves.[8]
While bongo flava is clearly related to American hip hop, it is also clearly distinguished from its Western counterpart. As the bongoflava.com website puts it, "these guys don't need to copy their brothers in America, but have a sure clear sense of who they are and what sound it is they’re making". The sound "has its roots in the rap, R&B and hip hop coming from America but from the beginning these styles have been pulled apart and put back together with African hands".[2]
The typical bongo flava artist identifies with the mselah, meaning a smart juvenile who is free from the prejudices of the society, but at the same time is committed and honest. It is in this sense that, for example, members of the hip hop crew Afande Sele call themselves watu pori, i.e., "men of the savannah" (meaning ineducated, free men). A sort of manifesto of mselah ideology is given by the song Mselah Jela by bongo flava singer Juma Nature, who defines the mselah, amongst other things, as a "honest person of sincere heart".[9] Following the tradition of western hip hop (as represented by the pioneering hip hop group Afrika Bambaataa), bongo flava lyrics usually tackle social and political issues such poverty, political corruption, superstition, and HIV/AIDS, often with a more or less explicit educational intent,[2] an approach that is sometimes referred to as "edutainment".[10] Afande Sele, for example, have written songs that are intended to teach prevention of malaria and HIV.
A pioneer of Tanzanian hip hop is Mr. II (also known as Sugu or 2-Proud), that in 1985 released the first bongo flava hit single, Ni Mimi ("It's me"). Mr. II is still active (his last recording, Coming of Age, was released in 2007). The first Tanzanian hip hop crew, Kwanza Unit, began in 1993; they originally sung in english, but eventually switched to swahili. In the late 1990s, one of the most popular bongo flava groups was the Hard Blasters; one of the former members of the group, Professor Jay, is currently one of Tanzania's most popular hip hop artists.
Among today's most popular bongo flava artists there are Juma Nature and Afande Sele. Some groups are very popular in their ethnic group; examples include the Maasai X Plastaz (who developed their own sub-genre known as "massai hip hop")[11] and Mr. Ebbo. Other popular names are Gangwe Mobb, Lady Jaydee, T.I.D., Wagozi Wa Kaya, Dully Sykes, Ali Kiba, Bizzman and Daz Baba.[12]