Alhaji (Dr) Mamman Shata Katsina (born in 1923 in Musawa village, Katsina State, Nigeria, died on 9 June 1999. He is a well-known Hausa griot/musician among the Hausa people of West and North-east Africa. His vocals are often accompanied by talking drums, known as kalangu. He performed for the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria for more than half a century. He went to the Islamic school as a boy, according to Hausa Muslim tradition.
Musawa at the birth of Shata was under the Katsina Native Authority (N.A.), but when the Local Governments were created it came under Kankia Local Government. At the present time, Musawa itself is a Local Government of its own.
Shata's father, Ibrahim Yaro, did not want him to become a musician due to widely held belief of those days that music or praise-singing was a form of 'roko' or begging. Being of the Fulani ethnic stock, the young Shata was expected to become a farmer - a more dignified occupation. Shata's insistence on becoming a musician was therefore seen as a form of rebellion against the norm.
Shata acquired his sobriquet of 'Shata' from the sale of kolanuts, which he indulged in as a young man. He combined this trade with the sale of sweets ('alewa'). Later he abandoned both trades and embraced music or praise-singing full-time. This vocation took him to many villages in the Musawa area. Finally he settled in Bakori, where he married his first wife, Binta. They had a daughter, Amina, who died in infancy. From his base in Bakori, Shata travelled with his band to places as far away as Katsina and Kano, which he first visited in 1952. A few years later he moved to Funtua, a more cosmopolitan town not faraway from Bakori.
By the time that he moved to Funtua, he was already grown up and married. Shata made Funtua his living place for about forty years - up till his death.
Mamman Shata was one of the best selling Polygram artistes from the North in the 80s. He was a highly respected folklorist. He spent about 50–60 years in the music industry.
Alhaji Shata could not recall or remember how many songs he produced. But he was able to record some.
He visited many African and Western countries in the course of his profession, including the United States of America.
He joined politics in the 1970s, becoming a Councillor under Kankia Local Government Area. His politics was largely left-wing even though his benefactors (the royal and the business classes) were mostly on the right. He ascribed this to his humble background. In the 2nd Republic (in the '80s) he was first in the centre-of-right GNPP and then moved to the conservative ruling party, the NPN. In the 3rd Republic he was elected as the Chairman of SDP of Funtua Local Government.
Shata was famed to have sung for every topic under the Hausa land's sun: Agriculture, Culture, Religion, Economy, Politics, Military, etc.
His relationship with other musicians was cordial. Some of his notable benefactors were: Mammada Dan Sambo, Emir of Daura – Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar, Emir of Kano – Alhaji Ado Bayero, Sultan of Sokoto – Muhammadu Maccido, Jarma of Kano – Alhaji Muhammadu Adamu Dankabo, and Emir of Zazzau - Alhaji Shehu Usman Idris.
Alhaji Shata died on the 9th June, 1999. He was survived by three wives (Furera, Hadiza, and Binta); 22 children and 28 grandchildren. Previously he married many other women and divorced them, some with children in between them. Amina (the third of his wives when he died) never gave birth even though she lived with him for more than 10 years.