Artists

Kidumbak is among the most popular traditional music styles of Zanzibar. With its roots in the taarab traditions and heavy emphasis on the rhythmic aspect, for local people it makes the music highly infectious and danceable.

Kidumbak is often performed at Zanzibar weddings, birthdays, beach parties and other joyous read more

The Kilimanjaro Band was formed some thirty years ago in Tanga, a town on the Swahili coast of Tanzania. They began with the name The Love Bugs then performing mostly cover songs. The band later changed its name to The Revolutions and moved to Dar es Salaam where there was read more

Mombasa based taarab group Lelelele Africa, formerly known as Diamond Star, formed in 1995.[[[ Over the years the band felt they needed a more original title, primarily one which was not in English, so in 2006 band leader Mbaraka Haji and new producer Elchie conceived the band read more

Taking the islands and coastal areas of Tanzania mainland by storm, Mashauzi Classic Modern Taarab is one of Tanzania’s leading groups playing the upbeat, and widely popular, genre of “modern taarab”.

Emerging in the 1990s modern taarab, is a far cry from its “classical taarab” counterpart, played on read more

Matona's Cultural Band is comprised of musicians from Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania. Mohamed Issa Haji 'Matona' is one of Zanzibar's most legendary musicians. He is a teacher at the Dhow Countries Music Academy and has been performing music for over 40 years. 

 For the past two years Matona read more

Maulidi Juma started singing in the 1960s and formed his original Mombasa Musical Party in 1972. The group has released more than 40 Recordings and continues to be one of the most popular groups of Kenyan coastal taarab. Their music exemplifies the Mombasa sound which shows the influence of Indian read more