Category: Swahili
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HHAP Ep. 86: Hip Hop Events, Updates, News, & the Burna Boy/Khaligraph Jones Conversations
Events discussed in episode: August – December 2023 | Culture Curators: Hip Hop 50 | National Museum of Accra (Ghana) September 28 & 29, 2023 – Archiving Hip Hop: 50 years in the making – Milton Keynes, UK / online May 16-19, 2024 | European Hip Hop Studies Conference | Cork, Ireland In the article…
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We The Big 3, Check The Spreadsheet
Now that African music like Afrobeats and Bongo Flava are becoming increasingly popular worldwide, more people are interested in different genres and artists across the continent. But in a male-dominated industry, there is the question: where are all of the female rap artists who are changing the game? Well in Tanzania, three artists made sure…
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The Sounds of Tanzania
-A brief article about the many sounds that are produced in Hip Hop. Hip Hop isn’t just a genre of music, it’s a genre that has its own style, culture, code, and language that sets it apart from all other genres. Through the use of Swahili slang & AAVE, drumming, storytelling, and rhyming, along with…
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“Who will speak for us the weak?”- Nay Wa Mitego
“Nani Atusemee Semee Sisi Wanyonge” – roughly translated to “Who will speak for us the weak” encompass the sole drive artist and activist, Nay Wa Mitego has towards his craft. Emmanuel Elibariki, also known as Nay Wa Mitego, was born June 9, 1988, in Tanzania. He made his first debut on youtube in July 2014…
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Nikki Mbishi: #999
Tanzania rapper Nikki Mbishi has a very extensive discography. One of his latest projects #999, which came out in 2021, speaks about the issue of gang violence and the need to make a change in his community. He begins the song describing what seems to be his primary community. He then goes on to say…
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Rosa Ree: Girls Wanna Have Fun
Rosary Robert Iwole also known as “Rosa Ree” is a female rapper, born in Moshi, Tanzania. She was raised in Arusha and spent a bit of her childhood in Kenya. She completed her basic education in Nairobi, Kenya at Ainsworth Primary School and Rudolf Steiner Primary. She went on to complete her secondary education at…
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Chris Kaiga – I WANT (ft. Mutoriah)
Chris Kaiga is a Kenyan-based artist (rapper) born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. His love and passion for music started in 2009 with the ambition of being a music producer but soon changed after recording his first single in 2011. He’s had hits with songs like ‘Zimenice’, ‘Niko on’ and ‘Bundaz’. He takes a distinct…
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Mex Cortez’s Monsoon Winds
Monsoon Winds, the debut album of Mex Cortez, will easily become heavy rotated through your playlists, as it has in mine! To begin, a monsoon is defined as seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation, with winds moving from colder climates to warmer ones. Cortez calls his album, Monsoon Winds, as a symbol to represent him finding…
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HHAP Ep. 74: Fid Q on Hip Hop, Language, & Culture in Tanzania
In this episode of Hip-Hop in Africa Podcast, have a long-awaited interview with Tanzanian artist, Fid Q. The conversation begins with a discussion of Fid Q’s legacy in Tanzanian Hip-Hop and his impact on the genre. We discuss his connection to Tanzanian youth and his impact on his music as he relates to his listeners…
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CFP: Politics of Language in African Hip Hop
The question of language in African literature was debated in the 1960s and 1970s. At the heart of the debate was: who qualifies as being an African writer? and what qualifies as African literature? African authors like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Chinua Achebe weighed in on different sides of the debate. Today a similar debate…