Singeli

Tanzanian music genre

Singeli
Stylistic origins
  • Ngoma music
  • Taarab
  • Muziki wa dansi
  • Bongo Flava
Cultural originsMid-2000s Tandale, Dar es Salaam
Typical instruments
  • Ngoma
  • Bass
  • Synthesizer
Subgenres
  • Mnanda
  • Mchiriku
  • Mdundiko
Other topics
  • Unyago
  • Bemba
  • Mdundiko
  • Kidumbaki
Music of Tanzania
Genres
  • Bongo flava
  • Singeli
  • Taarab
  • Dansi
  • Kwaya
  • Ngoma
Media and performance
Music awards
  • Tanzania Music Awards (TMA)
Music festivals
  • Sauti za Busara
  • Asili Festival
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem
  • Mungu ibariki Afrika
Regional music
  • v
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  • e

Singeli or sometimes called Sengeli is a Tanzanian music genre that originated with the Zaramo in the Mtogole neighborhood of the Tandale ward in Kinondoni District of Dar es Salaam Region around the mid-2000s. The genre has since the late 2010s spread throughout Tanzania, and since 2020 the surrounding Great Lakes. Singeli is a ngoma music and dance where a MC performs over fast tempo taarab music, often at between 200 and 300 beats per minute (BPM) while females dance. Male and female MCs are near equally common, however styles between MC gender typically differ significantly. Male MCs usually perform in fast-paced rap, while female MCs usually perform kwaya.[1][2]

In the early 2000s vigodoro, meaning all night parties, began being organized by Zaramo women for their other female family and friends particularly Manzese and Tandale wards. However the latter is considered the birthplace of the genre. The parties involved playing cassette tapes of taarab music that other women would come and dance to. As vigodoro parties grew MCs would be invited to come and perform over the cassettes. Msaga Sumu was one such MC and is considered one of the early founders of Singeli.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Mukandabvute, Aaron A.; Gores, Maria (16 April 2022). "Athari za Kimaadili Zitokanazo na Nyimbo za Muziki wa Singeli nchini Tanzania" [Ethical Impact of Singeli Music in Tanzania]. Mulika Journal (in Swahili). 40 (2). Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: University of Dar es Salaam. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b Van der Stockt, Anke (2019). The struggle for 'real' Tanzanian music: an anthropological analysis of the construction of national identity in Singeli (Thesis). Ghent, Belgium: Ghent University.


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