Bongo Flava
| Bongo flava | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hip hop, Tanzanian music |
| Cultural origins | 1990s Tanzania |
| Typical instruments | Bass guitar, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals |
| Regional scenes | |
| Dar es Salaam | |
Bongo flava is the 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. 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 , meaning "brain", and is a common nickname used to refer to Dar es Salaam, the city where the genre originated. In the bongo flava, the metaphor of "brains" may additionally refer to the cunning and street smarts of the mselah (see below).
The term "bongo flava" was coined and first mentioned in 1996 by Radio One's 99.6 FM (one of the first private radio stations in Tanzania) Radio Dj Mike Mhagama 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 identity of its own. DJ Show was the first radio show that accepted young Tanzanian musicians influenced by American music to express themselves through singing and rapping. He said on air, "After listening to "R & B Flava" titled 'No Diggity' from the United States,here comes "Bongo Flava" from Unique Sisters, one of our own." After he said that on the show, the term "Bongo Flava" stuck.
The earliest and most reliable account of how "Bongo flava" found its way onto Tanzanian airways has Taji Luindi at the heart of the story. Taji Liundi also known as Master T, the original creator and producer of the Dj Show program had already started airing songs by fledgling local artistes 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. "Bongo flava" existed well before the first audio or video recordings. The youth in Dar es salaam were rapping at beach concerts(organized by Joseph Kusaga who owned Mawingu Discothèque, 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 DJ Kim "And the Boyz" Magomelo.
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