- Saleh J
Saleh J, prominent
Tanzanian hip hop pioneer, was born inDar es Salaam as Saleh Jaber.Heavily influenced by early 1980s rap artists such as
LL Cool J andBig Daddy Kane , Jaber began to go by the name of Saleh J. He gained popularity after competing in the popular Tanzanian rap battle TV show, "Yo Rap Bonanza". [Lemelle, Sidney J. “‘Ni wapi Tunakwenda’: Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Pres] After winning this competition, Saleh J came out with an album which he says was "done in one day and just hours at continental hotel" and was just "distributed to all Indian shop owners." [http://www.africanhiphop.com/index.php?module=subjects&func=viewpage&pageid=34 Africanhiphop.com :: Motherland Hip hop :: African R] ] In 1992, Saleh J came out with what is considered his most commercially successful hit -- "Ice Ice Baby - King of Swahili Rap" by putting Swahili lyrics to the tune and rhythm of
Vanilla Ice 's 1990s hit "Ice Ice Baby ".He left the country of
Tanzania soon after to relocate in theUnited Arab Emirates and by 2003 he had moved to theUnited Kingdom , where he currently resides.As Saleh J gained popularity and fame within the young Tanzanian population, he began to compete against other popular
Swahili hip hop artists such asEazy-B andNigga One . These associations opened many doors for Saleh J, as both these rappers had relationships with a prominent competition in Tanzania, "Yo Rap Bonanza", an annual rap battle contest organized and sponsored by local Indian vendors in the marketplace of Dar es Salaam. The YRB contest was not only especially helpful to Saleh J, but also to other Tanzanian hip hop artists, as it included artists from outside theDar es Salaam region. This integration of other towns and people signified the spread of the hip hop movement throughout Tanzania, indicating a successful career for Saleh J.Most rappers would rap in English; however, Saleh J was considered innovative as he created a new style by translating the English rhythms into a rough form of Kiswahili. [Lemelle, Sidney J. “‘Ni wapi Tunakwenda’: Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Pres] .
As Saleh J was successful in the late 80's to early 1990's, today he is considered to be "old school" by many Tanzanian hip hop followers, just as
Run DMC is considered old school by young American hip hop fans. Today, many new hip hop artists are known to have been inspired by the early Tanzanian hip hop artists who dared to create a new genre of music, Saleh J being one of the most influential artists in Tanzania. Among the popular Tanzanian hip hop artists today are Professor Jay, Juma Nature, Fid Q, and internationally X Plastaz.References
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