Music of Tanzania

Music of Tanzania
Genres
Media and performance
Music awards
Music festivals
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem
Regional music
Bi Kidude Taarab Pioneer
Poet Mrisho Mpoto

As it is in other countries, the music in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes, and varies by location, people, settings and occasion. The five music genres in Tanzania, as defined by BASATA are, ngoma, dansi, kwaya, and taarab, with bongo flava being added in 2001.[1][2] Singeli has since the mid-2000s been an unofficial music of uswahilini, unplanned communities in Dar es Salaam, and is the newest mainstream genre since 2020.[3]

Ngoma (Bantu, meaning dance, drum and event)[4][5] is a traditional dance music that has been the most widespread music in Tanzania.[6][7] Dansi is urban jazz or band music.[6][8] Taarab is sung Kiswahili poetry accompanied by a band, typically string, in which audience is often, but not always, encouraged to dance and clap.[6] Kwaya is choir music originally limited to church during colonization, but now an secular part of education, social, and political events.

Bongo flava is Tanzanian pop music originating in the early 2000s from muziki wa kizazi kipya, meaning "Music of the new generation", which originated in the late 1980s. Kizazi kipya's dominant influences were reggae, RnB, and hip hop, where as the later bongo flava's dominant influences are taarab and dansi.[9] Three recent influence on bongo flava are Afropop in the 2010s, as well as bongopiano and singeli.[10][11][12][13] Singeli is a ngoma music and dance where a MC performs over fast tempo taarab music, often at between 200-300 beats per minute (BPM) while females dance. Male and female MCs are near equally common, however styles between MC gender typically differ significantly. Male MCs usually perform in fast paced rap, while female MCs usually perform kwaya.[3]

From independence until 1993, all recording and distribution of music was strictly managed by BASATA, primarily through Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD).[14] Only the 4 Tanzanian genres were permitted to be recorded or broadcast, which at the time was ngoma, taarab, kwaya and dansi. The Broadcasting Services Act of 1993 allowed private broadcast networks and recording studios.[15][16] In the few years prior to the 1993 Act hip hop had been getting somewhat established in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza. It was transitioning from English performances of hip hop in originating in uzunguni, rich areas like Oysterbay and Masaki with the international schools, to Kiswahili performances of kizazi kipya, originating in uswahilini[17] Following the opening of the radio waves, bongo flava spreading throughout the country, and the rest of the Great Lakes.[9]

  1. ^ Askew, Kelly (2002). Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 27–67, 276. ISBN 978-0-226-02981-8. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  2. ^ Ivaska, Andrew (2011). Cultured States: Youth, Gender, and Modern Style in 1960s Dar Es Salaam. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8223-4770-5. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b Hutchinson, Kate (17 December 2018). "'This cuts across society': how singeli music went from Tanzania to the world". The Guardian. Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  4. ^ Stone, Ruth M., ed. (2008). The Garland Handbook of African Music. New York: Routledge. pp. 14, 46–50, 136–137. ISBN 9781135900014. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  5. ^ Kaduma, Godwin Z. (1978). A theatrical description of five Tanzanian dances (Thesis). Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam.
  6. ^ a b c Njogu, Kimani; Maupeu, Herv (2007). "Music and Politics in Tanzania: a case study of Nyota-wa-Cigogo". Songs and Politics in Eastern Africa. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd. pp. 241–246. ISBN 978-9987-08-108-0. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  7. ^ Edmondson, Laura (2007). McNaughton, Patrick (ed.). Performance and Politics in Tanzania: The Nation on Stage. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-11705-2. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  8. ^ Mahenge, Elizabeth (16 April 2022). "Matumizi ya Mbinu ya Usimulizi katika Kuibua Dhamira ya Ukombozi wa Kisiasa Kusini mwa Afrika: Uchunguzi wa Nyimbo Teule za Muziki wa Dansi nchini Tanzania 1940-1990" [Use of Narrative Techniques in Raising the Demand for Political Liberation in Southern Africa: An Examination of Selected Dance Music Songs in Tanzania 1940-1990]. Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam (in Swahili). 40 (40).
  9. ^ a b Kerr, David (2 January 2018). "From the margins to the mainstream: making and remaking an alternative music economy in Dar es Salaam". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 30 (1). Routledge: 65-80. doi:10.1080/13696815.2015.1125776. ISSN 1369-6815. S2CID 146229942. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  10. ^ Suriano, Maria (2011). "Hip-Hop and Bongo Flavour Music in Contemporary Tanzania: Youths' Experiences, Agency, Aspirations and Contradictions". Africa Development. 36 (3–4): 113–126. doi:10.1080/00020184.2011.628800. ISSN 0850-3907. S2CID 163049425. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  11. ^ Perullo, Alex (2005). "Hooligans and heroes: Youth identity and hip-hop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania". Africa Today. 51 (4). Indiana University Press: 75–101. doi:10.1353/at.2005.0045. JSTOR 4187688. S2CID 144975952. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022 – via JSTOR.
  12. ^ Digital, Standard. "BongoPiano: The musical crossover that has everyone dancing". Standard Entertainment. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  13. ^ Digital, Standard. "Bongopiano: The unstoppable musical fusion rocking the dancefloors". Nairobi News.
  14. ^ Perullo, Alex (2007). "" Here's a Little Something Local": An Early History of Hip Hop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1984-1997". In Brennan, James R (ed.). Dar es Salaam. Histories from an Emerging African Metropolis. British Institute and Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd. pp. 250–272. ISBN 978-9987-08-107-3. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  15. ^ THE BROADCASTING SERVICES ACT, 1993 (PDF) (Act). Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania. 11 June 1994. Archived 27 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Perullo, Alex (2011). Live from Dar es Salaam: Popular Music and Tanzania's Music Economy. United States: Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00150-4. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  17. ^ Nne, Juma (1 October 2001). "Saleh J – Tanzanian Swahili rap pioneer". Africanhiphop.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2022.