He was a well-known griot/musician among the Hausa people of West Africa. His vocals were often accompanied by talking drums, known as kalangu. He mostly performed for the people of Northern Nigeria, primarily in the Hausa language, for more than half a century.[6]
^The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians 8, p312 Sir George Grove, Stanley Sadie, 1980
^African urban notes Michigan State University. African Studies Center, California. University, Los Angeles. African Studies Center, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee. Department of Political Science, 1970, 5-6 p23, "Similarly, I have been informed (by J. Michael Armer) that during the period of riots in Northern Nigeria in 1966, the great popular singer Alhaji Muhamman Shata composed and sang songs urging the people to keep calm."
^Glossary of Hausa music and its social contexts, David W. Ames, Anthony V. King, 1971 p25
^Shata: Mahadi Mai Dogon Zamani, by Ibrahim Sheme, Yusuf Tijjani Albasu, Aliyu Ibrahim Kankara, and Ali Malami; Informart Publishers Ltd., Kaduna, 2006