Notable Artists
A pioneer of Tanzanian hip hop is Mr. II (also known as Sugu or 2-Proud), who released the first Bongo flava hit single, Ni Mimi in 1985. Mr. II is still active today (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 artistes.
Among today's most popular Bongo flava artistes are Juma Nature, Profesa Jay, Afande Sele, Solothang, MwanaFA, Lady Jaydee, Ray C, Q Chillah, Ali Kiba, Mr. Blue, T.I.D. Snoozer Sawatiking and Fid Q. Some groups are very popular in their ethnic group; examples include the Maasai X Plastaz (who developed their own sub-genre known as "Maasai hip hop") and Mr. Ebbo. Other popular names are Gangwe Mobb, Wagosi Wa Kaya, Dully Sykes, Bizzman and Daz Baba.
Read more about this topic: Bongo Flava
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