BONGO (Tanzania)

The Swahili word Ubongo has many connotations. It means one’s brain (intelligence). It also suggests the fashionable (urbanised) and lastly it implies a mixture of things. Lately a section of the word has become synonymous with a music genre originally from urban Tanzania (Dar e Salaam). In a nutshell, the music is ‘glocalized’ hip-hop utilizing several aesthetic components of hip-hop culture.

Contemporary East Africa is swarmed by this music that has been heavily promoted by media channels like East Africa Television and East Africa Radio. Some of its biggest artists are Juma Nature, Mr. Nice, Dully Sykes and Professor J. Bongo reflects inter textuality with American hip hop and is made up of an emphatic bass line and a series of staccato outburst of rhymes from an MC (microphone Controller) who is a rapper.

Mr Nice's Rafiki Cassette cover

The lingo employed is Swahili slang that varies from the mainstream Swahili as the proponents of this art form construct their own world with this linguistic differentiation. The use of Swahili makes it easy for the mass local audience to understand the subject matter of the songs. Swahili is the national language of Tanzania.

Bongo records are embedded in a social context and many times are tailored to the delivery of a particular message. These narratives revolve around personal experiences of the artists or at least experiences told to them by friends or family. The autobiographical/biographical nature of these records makes them attractive to their audiences because they are captivating tales of human existence, joys and sorrows. One such record is Wachula Nafaka’s mzee wa busara.

Wachuja Nafaka's Mzee Busara

The bongo era began in the early 90s with American influenced Tanzanian hip hop groups similar to the Senegalese rap revolution of the same era that produced groups like Positive Black Soul. Initially Tanzanian club MCs were recreating foreign hip hop classics from artists like Snap, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer into Swahili (Therefore bongo has its roots in the club and still maintains contact with its origins). These generated into rap groups and artists such as Mr II (formerly known as II Proud]). Their popularity skyrocketed with the motif of edutaining their audiences.

The late 90s brought success to Cool James (born James Dandu) who was initially from Mwanza in the north of Tanzania.Cool James was a founder member of the Swedish based East African rap group Swahili Nation.Other members of this group were Uganda’s Charlie King Todwong, Ken Kayongo and Luther Martin Kintu.It also featured Kenya’s Andrew Muturi.

Cool James had a cross over hit with his remake of the Les Wanyika hit single Sina Makosa. This band an offshoot of Simba Wanyika was coincidentally of Tanzanian origin (from Tanga) but later based in Kenya from the 1970s.Cool James’ success drew the attention of East Africa to this ‘new’ Swahili rap music. The advent of East Africa Radio and Television formalised its presence.

Bongo at first appealed to the youth. Its sustained presence through a decade transformed the demographic into the middle age. Currently bongo flavour as it is now referred to appeals to the age of 12 to 35.From the beginning bongo faced competition from other local music styles like Taarab (modelled on Islamic music), Swahili Band music (modelled on Soukouss) and Dwara. These were and are still favored by the elderly though bongo has made remarkable in roads into these consumption trends by incorporating elements of the three as well as its traditional base hip hop. Ray C’s ‘uko wapi’ for instance draws elements from Taraab music.

From its modest beginnings bongo quickly traversed the country before penetrating the East Africa region. The communitarian approach to life in Tanzania as a result of Julius Nyerere (first president after independence)’s ujaama policy (African socialism) assisted the development of bongo. The mass consumption nationally was in direct line with ‘in support of our own policy’. This means that the music had a persistent demand that boosted production.

Today, key outlets that distribute this genre are record stores like GMC and F.M. studios. The main medium of recording is still the audiotapes, which is affordable and makes mass consumption possible. There is equally a heavy rotational presence of this genre in the media. Local f.m. Radio stations for instance Clouds f.m., East Africa Radio, Radio One and Uhuru f.m. Devote their play list quotas to the presentation of bongo records.

Television stations like East Africa Television and Newspapers: Rahakamili and Nipashe render this genre extensive coverage. Programs focusing on bongo include Bongo explosion on East Africa radio 8-10 p.m. hosted by presenter Jay Dee on Radio One 104.2 f.m. Abubaker Saadique hosts the DJ show from 2-4 p.m. every weekday. These media sections promote the music to the audience at home and to East Africa .It also inspires the old and new artists to produce more new music.

The industry has reached a steady production phase and in Dar e Salaam the period between releases of bongo single records is within days. The cost of recording is relatively affordable considering the possible returns from a project release with mass consumption. A single would cost about 90US dollars. An album with 10 songs would cost 900US dollars. Each tape of that album would cost 2US dollars and a successful project would sell about 20,000 copies. This is good business for any artist in this industry.

The economy of Tanzania is to Africa’s standards progressive. The minimum wage for an average civil servant is 100US dollars per month. The cost of renting a house is about 30US dollars per month for the relatively good housing. A decent shirt costs about 2US dollars. These do factor well into the consumption habits of bongo fans that do have some disposable income to buy records and attend to performances.

The infrastructure that supports the bongo record industry consists of record labels like Bongo records manned by producer P Funk, POA records, MJ records manned by producers Master J and Professor Ludigo and F.M. studios. These sometimes finance the production and distribution of the music.

They frequently release singles, albums and compilations showcasing their wealth of talent. Several producers grace the stage of bongo production. P Funk, Master J, Professor Ludigo and Mika Mwamba are some of the most prominent contributors to the genre. A typical bongo record release is promoted through posters, banners, video releases and of course on Television and on Radio.

Washkaji Wenye Vipaji; a Bongo Compilation

Like hip hop in America the bongo community is stratified into clique families that support clique members in their performances.

One such clique is the East Coast comprising of Oten, AY, Crazy GK and Mwana FA. Another is the West Coast that is made up of Professor J, Solo Phang and Afande Sele. These cliques have however spared Tanzania of the hip-hop clashes that saw blood spill in the American hip-hop community.

The live performance of bongo flavour employs a background track (instrumental) sometimes with a pre-recorded chorus or in some cases not. A sound system is used with lighting and deejays play the background tracks. These deejays act as sound engineers and stage directors of the performances. The performances take place at gazetted places, which are party zones. These places are Diamond Jubilee, Coco Beach and clubs like Carlifornia Dreamer and Bilicanas (Bills). The artists are normally clothed in hip hop gear(sneakers, T-shirts, Jeans, Caps) a typical hip hop dimension.

In terms of its journey to East Africa and the globe, bongo flavour is already a constant in sessions of every dance club in Uganda. The media covers it profusely. Sanyu f.m. Radio in Uganda for example contains a segment called East Africa’s Finest (4-5 P.M. week days) hosted by presenter Big Ben where bongo flavours best is featured alongside music from Kenya and Uganda. One previous edition of the US hip-hop magazine ‘The Source’ covered this genre. The now folded PHAT magazine devoted a lot of coverage to this genre. From Tanzania the effort is deliberate, promote your own beyond our market. East Africa Radio and Television are bound by this philosophy. As the bongo revolution exceeds lets listen to the bongo.

From its modest beginnings bongo quickly traversed the country before penetrating the East Africa region. The communitarian approach to life in Tanzania as a result of Julius Nyerere (first president after independence)’s ujaama policy (African socialism) assisted the development of bongo. The mass consumption nationally was in direct line with ‘in support of our own policy’. This means that the music had a persistent demand that boosted production.

Today, key outlets that distribute this genre are record stores like GMC and F.M. studios. The main medium of recording is still the audiotapes, which is affordable and makes mass consumption possible. There is equally a heavy rotational presence of this genre in the media. Local f.m. Radio stations for instance Clouds f.m., East Africa Radio, Radio One and Uhuru f.m. Devote their play list quotas to the presentation of bongo records. Television stations like East Africa Television and Newspapers: Rahakamili and Nipashe render this genre extensive coverage. Programs focusing on bongo include Bongo explosion on East Africa radio 8-10 p.m. hosted by presenter Jay Dee on Radio One 104.2 f.m. Abubaker Saadique hosts the DJ show from 2-4 p.m. every weekday. These media sections promote the music to the audience at home and to East Africa .It also inspires the old and new artists to produce more new music.

The industry has reached a steady production phase and in Dar e Salaam the period between releases of bongo single records is within days. The cost of recording is relatively affordable considering the possible returns from a project release with mass consumption. A single would cost about 90US dollars. An album with 10 songs would cost 900US dollars. Each tape of that album would cost 2US dollars and a successful project would sell about 20,000 copies. This is good business for any artist in this industry.

The economy of Tanzania is to Africa’s standards progressive. The minimum wage for an average civil servant is 100US dollars per month. The cost of renting a house is about 30US dollars per month for the relatively good housing .A decent shirt costs about 2US dollars. These do factor well into the consumption habits of bongo fans that do have some disposable income to buy records and attend to performances.

The infrastructure that supports the bongo record industry consists of record labels like Bongo records manned by producer P Funk, POA records, MJ records manned by producers Master J and Professor Ludigo and F.M. studios. These sometimes finance the production and distribution of the music. They frequently release singles, albums and compilations showcasing their wealth of talent. Several producers grace the stage of bongo production. P Funk, Master J, Professor Ludigo and Mika Mwamba are some of the most prominent contributors to the genre. A typical bongo record release is promoted through posters, banners, video releases and of course on Television and on Radio.

Like hip hop in America the bongo community is stratified into clique families that support clique members in their performances. One such clique is the East Coast comprising of Oten, AY, Crazy GK and Mwana FA. Another is the West Coast that is made up of Professor J, Solo Phang and Afande Sele. These cliques have however spared Tanzania of the hip-hop clashes that saw blood spill in the American hip-hop community.

AY; Bongo rap artiste

The live performance of bongo flavour employs a background track (instrumental) sometimes with a pre-recorded chorus or in some cases not. A sound system is used with lighting and deejays play the background tracks. These deejays act as sound engineers and stage directors of the performances. The performances take place at gazetted places, which are party zones. These places are Diamond Jubilee, Coco Beach and clubs like Carlifornia Dreamer and Bilicanas (Bills). The artists are normally clothed in hip hop gear(sneakers, T-shirts, Jeans, Caps) a typical hip hop dimension.

In terms of its journey to East Africa and the globe, bongo flavour is already a constant in sessions of every dance club in Uganda. The media covers it profusely. Sanyu f.m. Radio in Uganda for example contains a segment called East Africa’s Finest (4-5 P.M. week days) hosted by presenter Big Ben where bongo flavours best is featured alongside music from Kenya and Uganda. One previous edition of the US hip-hop magazine ‘The Source’ covered this genre. The now folded PHAT magazine devoted a lot of coverage to this genre. From Tanzania the effort is deliberate, promote your own beyond our market. East Africa Radio and Television are bound by this philosophy. As the bongo revolution exceeds lets listen to the bongo.