Music
Remmy Ongala: the Dar es Salaam bandleader who sang for the poor
Remmy Ongala, born in Congo and based in Dar es Salaam, led Orchestre Super Matimila and became one…
Tanzania
Arts + Culture
Tingatinga: the bright animal paintings that began on a Dar es Salaam roadside
Tingatinga painting, known for bright enamel colours and stylised animals, was created by Edward Saidi Tingatinga in Dar…
Arts + Culture
Makonde carving: the ebony sculptures of Tanzania and Mozambique
The Makonde people of southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique are famous for sculptures carved from African blackwood. Styles…
Music
Bongo Flava: how Tanzanian hip-hop became East Africa’s biggest pop sound
Bongo Flava grew in Dar es Salaam in the 1990s as young Tanzanians rapped and sang in Swahili…
Arts + Culture
Singeli: the hyper-fast street music of Dar es Salaam
Singeli emerged in the mid-2000s in the crowded Dar es Salaam neighbourhoods of Tandale and Manzese, where DJs…
Music
From Tandale to a media empire: how Diamond Platnumz turned bongo flava into a business
Diamond Platnumz, born Naseeb Abdul Juma in Dar es Salaam, became East Africa's biggest pop star and built…