This week on our Hip Hop artist list is Young Lunya from Tanzania. Featured on many other artists’ songs such as, Rapcha and Country Wizzy, Young Lunya really hits hard when it comes to facial expression and lyricism (from what I can discern only speaking english). But his emphasis and rhymes come across without fail in his music.
September of 2020 Young Lunya released, what seems to be, a series of freestyle sessions. His video “Announcement Freestyle” hit a number of ranges and intelligently changes speed to keep the watcher enticed. Around each corner he hits us with regular hip hop video tropes with fancy cars, women, big chains, and alcohol, but Young Lunya also presents us with his perceptions of hip hop in Tanzania. He no doubtly adds his own flavor to this song. Near the middle of this song he truly slows the speed and adds a 2020 meme favorite with “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” song that changes the whole dynamic of the vibe. It’s really sort of a welcomed change of pace to any rap video. For the 10 seconds the screen goes black and white and changes the song you feel as if that’s how the video has been for the whole time because he continues what he started the video with. It’s something we don’t see much of in even regular videos. I think Young Lunya is a little underrated in Tanzanian Hip Hop. He adds regular tropes, his personal flavor, and his cultural appreciation in a lot of his songs.
And from what I can decipher now that is a running theme in Tanzanian hip hop is the phrase “Tajiri”, which was the title of a song of the last artist I blogged about, Fid Q, and said at the end of Young Lunya’s song which means–“rich”.