xplastaz-fidq

A couple of artists who have distinguished themselves from the generic Bongo flava-sound in Tanzania have joined up for a new single and video. ‘Furaha’ by Arusha-based group X Plastaz and Dar es Salaam’s finest, solo rapper Fid Q, was launched in May on Channel 5 (East Africa TV) and this week across other stations and the web. X Plastaz had not recorded new material after the death of group member Faza Nelly in 2006, while Fid Q has released a couple of very succesful singles in the past months. The beat is by dj 360, X Plastaz’ tour dj and producer who has also produced for the likes of Redman, Outsidaz and Freestyle Fellowship as well as Senegalese artists Wa BMG 44.

The music video to ‘Furaha’, which raises the quality bar of hip hop videos in Tanzania, was made by Kilimanjaro Film Institute (KFI). KFI is a training institute based in Arusha which educates youth from disadvantaged backgrounds in different disciplines of filmmaking, in order to help them gain the necessary skills to find employment. The Furaha video, for which they received guidance from two Dutch film students, was a pilot project in which they were introduced to the specific discipline of making music videos.

The music recordings were done in Fid Q’s studio in Dar, and coordinated by African Hip Hop Tanzania, a new local offspring of the African Hip Hop Foundation. More about African Hip Hop TZ soon…