Bongo Records,Swahili Rap & Tanzanians' View Of American Rap Music.

Bongo Records

Bongo records is owned by a very influential person in the Tanzanian hip-hop/Bongo Flava scene that is taking place in this part of Africa. Paul Matthysse who is also known as P Funk or Majani, is not only the owner of Bongo Records but also as talented producer, who has had a lot of input in the way the genre of music is shaped.

He has been the winner of Kili Music Award in Tanzania as producer of the year 3 times.Atthysse also produced the Album of the year in 2005 and 2006, song of the year in 2005 and 2006, best hip-hop album in 2006.

He is considered as Tanzania’s most prominent Bongo Flava producer. And is credited as one of the founders of the genre P.Funk.

Swahili rap

Swahili rap, known as Swah Rap, began to develop in the early 1990s. Led by the Kwanza Unit, a group composed of many of the major artists, Swah rap sought to bring Tanzanian themes to their rap.

Kwanza Unit modeled a Kwanzian Nation after Afrika Bambaataa’s Zulu Nation. Kwanzian Nation tried to bring positive messages to the music. These artists combined their traditional word play, evocative puns, and rhyming with Tanzanian topics to fight working class oppression and develop authentic Tanzanian culture.

However, in reality, many Swah Rap tracks have been infiltrated by words and themes from American “gangsta rap.

Famous Swah Rap Artists include Villain Gangsters, Tribe X, Riders Posse, K singo and Abbas Maunda^.

Tanzanians' view of American rap music

 

Rappers such as Sam Stigillydaa has said, "American rappers talk about crazy things- drinking, drugs, violence against women, American blacks kill blacks. I hope African rap stays African and doesn't turn crazy.

"Tanzanians view the United States as an aggressive country that romanticizes both violence and crime whereas Tanzania dispel such a romanticization of violence and crime. Tanzanians view crime as caused by economic need, not greed, and those who become criminals risk having people brand them social outcasts.

Tanzanians also view cultural imperialism as a form of symbolic violence that relies on a relationship of constrained communication to extort submission. Nonetheless, Tanzanian rappers still use common themes relevant to American rappers such as the African-American deviance and dysfunction