From the hit-hat of rapper’s delight to Professor Jay, Bongo Flava hits heights

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Paul Makonda, welcomed Tanzanians to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bongo Flava music today at Mlimani City, a kilometre walk from its birthplace, the Radio One Studio.

Minister Makonda insists the event is more than entertainment since it is an opportunity to reflect on the history of the music genre and its contribution to national development.

Speaking to the artists on July 3rd, 2026, Makonda said today’s July 10 gala should serve as a day to commemorate Bongo Fleva’s journey from its humble beginnings to its current success.

“It is a day that reminds us where we have come from and the progress we have made.

It should also be an opportunity to evaluate the messages in our music and its contribution to the nation’s development,” he said.

Makonda noted that music has played a vital role in educating society, promoting moral values, encouraging respect for parents, inspiring hard work and strengthening national unity among Tanzanians.

He added that the achievements of today’s generation of artists, including owning homes, vehicles, radio and television stations and creating employment opportunities, are the result of the foundation laid by the pioneers of Bongo Flava.

“Today we see artists owning businesses, employing young people and building successful lives through music. This demonstrates that when the arts sector is provided with a supportive environment, it can help reduce unemployment and make a meaningful contribution to the national economy,” he said.

From what Makonda says, it’s crystal clear that Bongo Flava, a young generation’s music, has reached its new heights after clearing most of the challenges it faced during its creation three decades ago.

With Diamond Platinumz, Zuchu, Ali Kiba, Harmonize, Marioo, Nandy and Jay Melody reigning as its contemporary mega stars, Professor Jay, Mr Two, Juma Nature, Dully Sykes, Wagosi wa Kaya, TID and Lady Jay Dee will always remain the most influential Bongo Flava pioneers and genre’s models of all time.

Bongo Flava has today claimed the music stage, which was previously dominated by dance music and Congolese rumba, the two music genres it has now completely eclipsed today, as Bongo Flava celebrates its 30th anniversary.

It is the 30th anniversary today, but precisely it should be the 32nd anniversary of Bongo Flava for the namesake.

With this writer and DJ Neagre Jay (Masoud Masoud) being the key contributors, Taji Liundi, an ambitious radio presenter with the Radio One studio, coined the name Bongo Flava in 1994 from the writer’s definition that the new generation music that early artists such as Gangaplasters, Saleh Jabir, the winner of Yo Rap Bonanza, was a Tanzanian version of American RnB heavily favoured by Swahili traditional poetry.

“Muziki wenye fleva za kibongo (Tanzania),” Taji Liundi shortened it to music with Tanzanian flavours.

Bongo literally means Dar es Salaam for those residing upcountry, but it could mean the whole of Tanzania for those in diaspora, when Taji Liundi introduced it, he called it Muziki wenye ‘flavour za Kibongo’, which was later shortened to Bongo Flava.

The model American hits this writer used as a guideline to define the kind of genre the Tanzanian artists sought to embrace were “Rapper’s Delight” released by Sugar Hill Gang in 1979 and “DJ Delight or “Last Night DJ Saved My Life” released by Indeep also from America.

…… Last night, a DJ saved my life with a song. Hey, listen up to your local DJ, You’d better hear what he’s got to say, There’s no problem that I can’t fix, Cause I can do it in the mix, And if your man gives you trouble, Just you move out on the double, And you don’t let it trouble your brain, Cause away goes troubles, Down the drain………….

Wrongly labelled as a Motown release by Tanzania disco lovers of the 1980s, both DJ Delight and Rapper’s Delight had a global impact, though “Rapper’s Delight”, the groundbreaking 1979 hip-hop track by The Sugarhill Gang, remains a more iconic song.

The song was a massive cultural milestone, becoming the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit in the US.

Built on the instrumental groove of Chic’s “Good Times”, it laid the foundation for the explosion of global hip-hop.

Sebastian Maganga, who was Taji Liundi’s trainee at Radio One Studio, did a commendable promotion when he joined Clouds FM, a youth favourite radio station to date.

Today, thirty years later, Bongo Flava has developed into a multi-genre music from a mere syncopated words(rap) during its early stages under Saleh Jabir, 2 Proud (Mr 11), Balozi Soul and Ebony Moalim, who was the first artist to officially launch an album, followed later by Juma Nature.

In the beginning, syncopation as a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents to suit the R&B beat seemed difficult for speakers of the unaccented Swahili language to cope with the rap flow. From what is seen in the early works by Saleh Jabir, who won the inaugural rapping contest and 2 Proud, traditional poetry (majigambo) and Ujamaa era theatrical poems (ngonjera) cleared the syncopation hurdle.

The Swahili poetry model can be seen in this verse by Jux ft Diamond.

…. Kilichomponza Fala ni kujifanya simba kumbe swala, Kazama kwenye penzi unchwara badala ya kusaka miamala…………….

2 Proud’s “Ni Hali Halisi” is one of the few Bongo Flava hits that opted for a traditional approach in attaining the sing-song style of rapping.

“Most of American rap hits of that time observed lyric words done in stressed semi-quavers (6/8) and sixteenth notes (demisemiquaver) for the faster ones, as opposed to common Swahili speaking and singing adhered to of 2/2, or 4/4 common time,” explained Adelgot Haule, Police Jazz music expert.

From 2 Pack Shakur to 2 Proud, Naughty by Nature to Juma Nature, LL Cool J to Professor Jay.

As a Swahilised American rap, Bongo Flava didn’t start with Grand Master Flash, Africa Bambaataa or Cool Moe Dee, the earliest rap artists, but the later stars such as MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Public Enemy and 2 Pac Shakur, who won the biggest number of disciples when Radio One started in 1994.

Mbeya MP, Joseph Mbilinyi, was called 2 Proud in the mid-1990s, which is likely to put him on 2 Pac Shakur’s allegiance, while Juma Nature is likely to have penned his musical name from Naughty by Nature, also among the popular groups in the 1990s.

Though there is no exact figure of the youth engaged in Bongo Flava artistry, however, taking from the financial status of a few artistes who own properties worth multimillions and expenses some spend in producing their works, evidence a generation of billions of shillings annually.

Some notable artistes, such as Diamond, claimed to have spent over 70m/- while others, such as Lina, claimed to have parted with over 50m/- during their early careers.

“I had to shoot my video in South Africa, where I spent over 70m/- to give it an international quality,” Diamond was once quoted as saying to a TV presenter.

Bongo artistes easily talk in terms of millions of shillings, as Mheshimiwa Temba of TMK Wanaume fame was once quoted as saying: “There is a big income difference between income accruing from live shows and album sales. “Sales of albums are what we count much on; you can earn from 4m/- to 6m/-. But no one will give you such a big amount of money just for a live band show.”

Bongo flava musician Ali Kiba, whose eponymous hit “Cinderella” won him many fans, thinks that the mushrooming of local radio and TV stations have contributed much to the success of the genre.

He comments: “The country had only one radio station in the past, but today there is an opportunity on different radio and television stations to play music on.”

Radio One is indisputably the first school of Bongo Flava, though no one denies the immense contribution of THT, Bongo Star Search and music festivals being organised by brewers TBL and SBL in making the genre hit its sky-high success.

ALSO READ: Banking on beat bank, Bongo Flava bends to band music era

With all that, certain artistes deserve recognition as their works helped to reshape Bongo Flava into universal appeal and create the track for their disciples.

After Mr Two who managed to create the first model of hits done in syncopated Swahili poetry, Bongo Flava also owes a lot to Wagosi wa Kaya from Tanga who invented rap poetry that mimics Wasambaa phraseology (Mkoloni) and Tanga Urban Swahili. Mr Ebbo who crafted a Maasai- styled rap style and Dudu Baya who added Sukuma tribe flavours in dancehall ragga.

Also deserve a recognition in arming Bongo Flava with powerful fusions include Ray C whose early music added elements of Indian Ghazals, TID who created influential R&B (Zeze) and funk-styled Coastal beats (Siamini) and Lady JD who made easy and Swahilised Rhythm and Blues.