Seven Survivor is one of Dar es Salaam's leading exponents playing mchiriku, a style of music that has been extremely popular around the poor areas of Dar es Salaam, Coastal and Morogoro regions for more than twenty years. This group is currently rated the second in popularity after Jagwa Music.
They started in 1995 as Survival Original. Due to misunderstandings among the members, a year later they decided to split and Seven Survivor was born. Boasting the talented Juma Mpogo (General Lupozi) as a lead vocalist and keyboard player, Seven Survivor are especially popular around the southern suburbs of Dar es Salaam.
The group already released 18 albums on cassette, the most recent being Panya wa Dar es Salaam (Rats of Dar es Salaam), released in 2007.
"We are forced to release many albums because the people who control the industry do not pay us enough. At least it is something we can share as a group, we do not have professional managers and nobody is there to help us get a better deal" says Juma Mpogo the group's spokesman.
They performed at Sauti za Busara in 2012 against their opponents Jagwa Music on Mchikichu competition. In 2013 they released new album “kilio cha Mastaa” (weeping of stars) for commemorate their late band leader and other musicians.
Most of the songs they compose themselves are about regular happenings around their society and the country as a whole. Many of their songs talk of daily issues in the Tanzanian ghetto, including theft, drugs, prostitution, witchcraft, child labour and corruption.
Unlike Jagwa Music, Seven Survivor's music style is a bit slower in tempo but still carries a lot of emotion. Instruments include a small keyboard, one big leading drum, two small supporting drums, shakers and timing sticks hit on a broken stool.