Whenever anyone feels happy, sad, angry and lonely, we always turn to music to express ourselves. The feeling we get from music makes the world be a better and cheerful place that it makes everything else fade away. To think that we only used to listen to music only from radios, it doesn’t seem like it in today’s world. If we look back to the early 2000’s, many Tanzanian musician gave us many hits that kept us entertained even though they didn’t have the best equipments to record and produce music. All those things didn’t matter then since all you had to have was your voice and a nice band to back you up. With that, here are some of the best oldies that still make you wanna dance. 

10. Zeze by TID

This song was the jam back in 2015. Whenever you went out you were sure to hear this song playing somewhere whether it’s a bar or a kiosk. TID is a Bongo Flava musician who does R&B and made his solo debut at the age of 21. Although Zeze was not his first single, it sure made him more famous. For those who don’t know what zeze means, it’s an African music instrument that looks like a banjo but its not. It has no official English name that I know of but if it does well my bad. Anyway, this song which is all about romance was the hit back then that it was included in the Global soul. 

9. Cinderella by Ali Kiba

You may think the song is about a fairytale story like Cinderella’s. It isn’t but whatever the case no one cared and I don’t think many even knew. It’s the flow of the music that got to me and many others that we could not stop our selves from singing along whenever it came on the television and radio. This song gave Ali Kiba the recognition that he needed and well he is now a very successful musician in Tanzania and he gave us more and more music that he got nicknamed King Kiba. Well how about that. 

8. Zali la mentali by Professor Jay.

Although he is very engaged with politics nowadays, Prof. Jay gave us a gem known as Zali la mentali. This hip-hop song was very and I mean very well written and produced that it isn’t forgotten to this day. If you haven’t listened to it yet, well you should and watch the video too because its more entertaining that way. The message portrayed in this song is that it doesn’t matter what financial status you have to fall in love. Juma nature was featured in this song and made it more hardcore. 

7. Starehe by Ferooz

Ferooz featured Professor Jay in this song and it was a hit. This R&B and hip-hop song smashed the records. It has a great tune that got stuck in your head for hours. But what really made this song become famous was the message in it. This guy managed to educate a lot of people about how its easy to get AIDS when you just have fun without protection. With one song he portrayed a lot of what it’s like to not care for oneself while AIDS is still at large. This was when this virus was a bigger problem to the nation. At least he was able to educate and gives us a banger at the same time.

6. Hakuna Kulala by Juma Nature.

Sir Nature as many call him, gave us a lot of bangers back in 2000’s and he still brings heat in his songs till today. One of the many songs that got a lot of good responses is Hakuna Kulala. It means no sleeping. The song is about having fun dancing and clubbing that sleeping is not allowed even though you are hungry. He literally said so in this song. It became a big hit in clubs, parties and any place that dancing is needed. This song brought people together of all ages. Am sure many local clubs and bars still play this song to give the people a little bit of the best of bongo flava there is. 

5. Siku hazigandi by Lady Jay Dee.

With everything that happens in our world, everyone tends to need something to hold on and give them the push they need. This song was it to so many people back in 2007.  

This is one of the greatest songs produced in Tanzania. It has everything needed in a work of art that many artists don’t work on. Lady Jay Dee wrote this song for a particular audience that is women mostly but the message portrayed can be for anyone. The song title translates to days don’t stay stagnant and with those words alone, you get the reason this song became a hit.

4. Mama yangu by Banana Zoro.

Even though we didn’t get a lot of songs from him, Mr. Zoro did give us one of the best songs in the history of bongo flava. The song mama yangu means my mother, of course. He talked about his mother how she is the light and shield in his life. He showed the importance of mothers to all of us and that we should truly appreciate them and show them love and respect they need. The lyrics of this song added with the beat, made this one of the best songs between 2007 and 2010. 

3. Uko wapi by Ray C.

Another bongo flava that was a major hit during the 2000’s. Ray C was one of the queens of bongo flava in Tanzania. She gave us great songs that were played a lot on the radio and the television. This song was about finding her love all over the world. The video was even taken in a western country. Apart from singing, she was also known for belly dancing. It increased her fame and in that case her songs also got a lot of attention. 

2. Usijaribu by Ay.

Well, when it comes to Hip-hop in Tanzania, this mastermind is said to be the first musicians to commercialize it and be successful at that. With this song, AY was able to win two awards in 2007 from different award shows. This song captured a lot of attention since it was very hard to miss and it entertained all genders and ages despite being hardcore. I say this because when I was growing up, I was surrounded with women who didn’t prefer hip hop but since AY also sings bongo flava, his hardcore songs were also appreciated by all. Anyway, this song was among the many hits back then.

1. Ingekuwa vipi by Mwana FA.

This is the song that introduced Mwana FA as a solo artist and made him among the best bongo flava and hip-hop artists in Tanzania. He sang this song asking what if different things happened in a different way like if Dully Sykes (another Tanzanian musician) sang hardcore or would RnB be if not for Lady jay dee. I mean the whole song makes one think of different scenarios that could happen if it happened differently. Although some of the things said where obviously jokes but it still became a hit. With that said, if you do want to listen to old songs this should be in the list.

The songs today may have more flair and pizzazz but they can never take the greatness given by these oldies which by the way will still keep rocking as long as there are people who still keep listening to them.