Kasi ya vijana katika kukuza muziki wa kizazi kipya katika kipindi cha utandawazi haiendani na kasi ya ukuzaji wa ngoma za asili. Mpaka sasa haujafanyika utafiti wa kina kuhusu kuzuka kwa tabia hii. Makala haya yanatumia mahojiano na vikundi vya ngoma vitatu halikadhalika wanamuziki wa kizazi kipya kuweka bayana chanzo cha tatizo. Aidha, makala haya yanatumia nadharia ya utendaji kama darubini kuchunguza matatizo ya kijamii, kisiasa, kiuchumi na kiutamaduni yanayowakumba vijana na namna yanavyochochea mfumuko wa tabia hii mpya. Utafiti huu umegundua kwamba uhaba wa mianya ya kiuchumi na kisiasa kwa vijana, nafasi ya ngoma za asili katika jamii ya sasa, mahusiano hasi kati ya vijana na wazee katika kuuendeleza utamaduni pamoja na vijana kutaka maendeleo ya haraka kuwa ndio chimbuko la tatizo.

Kasi ya vijana katika kukuza muziki wa kizazi kipya katika kipindi cha utandawazi haiendani na kasi ya ukuzaji wa ngoma za asili. Mpaka sasa haujafanyika utafiti wa kina kuhusu kuzuka kwa tabia hii. Makala haya yanatumia mahojiano na vikundi vya ngoma vitatu halikadhalika wanamuziki wa kizazi kipya kuweka bayana chanzo cha tatizo. Aidha, makala haya yanatumia nadharia ya utendaji kama darubini kuchunguza matatizo ya kijamii, kisiasa, kiuchumi na kiutamaduni yanayowakumba vijana na namna yanavyochochea mfumuko wa tabia hii mpya. Utafiti huu umegundua kwamba uhaba wa mianya ya kiuchumi na kisiasa kwa vijana, nafasi ya ngoma za asili katika jamii ya sasa, mahusiano hasi kati ya vijana na wazee katika kuuendeleza utamaduni pamoja na vijana kutaka maendeleo ya haraka kuwa ndio chimbuko la tatizo.

Over the last two decades Bongo Fleva music has become a popular form of entertainment as well as a key cultural element among Tanzanian urban youth. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of pseudonyms in this musical genre in Tanzania. It focuses on how Bongo Fleva artists adopt their pseudonyms and discusses their role in identity formation among urban youths in contemporary Tanzania. The paper argues that pseudonyms in Bongo Fleva, as in various other fields, have an important role to play in portraying one’s identity, culture, characteristics, profile, actions, hope and imagination.

This article addresses the question how Bongo Fleva (or Flava, from the word ‘flavour’) - also defined as muziki wa kizazi kipya (‘music of a new generation’) - and Hip-Hop in Swa-hili, reflect Tanzanian urban youth culture, with its changing identities, life-styles, aspirations, constraints, and language. As far as young people residing in small centres and semi-rural ar-eas are concerned, I had the impression that they have the same aspirations as their urban counterparts, especially those in Dar es Salaam. They keep well up to date on urban practices through performances, radio and local tabloids, even if they lack the same job and leisure op-portunities as their city brothers. Although I do not take ‘youth’ as a fixed and homogeneous category, the ‘young generation’ has been assuming a central, though frequently ambiguous, position in many places in Africa (for this issue, see Burgess 2005). Here, however, I have chosen to focus on two urban contexts, namely Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, the sites of my one-and- -half-year fieldwork between 2004 and the end of 2005.

For over a decade now, Bongo Fleva has been the dominant category of popular music in Tanzania, surpassing Muziki wa Dansi (dance music) and Taarab in terms of its presence in the media. Bongo Fleva has become deversified in the last years and at present includes elements of traditional music as well as popular dance music, both of African and Western origin (Raab 2006: 43 ff.). As a result, contemporary Bongo Fleva is stylistically complex. Ther lyrics of Bongo Fleva are specifically determined by 1) the use of Swahili youth language and slang expressions. 2) the representation of modern and young lifestyles, and 3) socio-critical contens with pedagocial and moralistic tendencies. The lyrics of Bongo Fleva are marked by youth discourse which is most important for the construction of youth identities. While Bongo Fleva text with dialogic structure seem to continue the older tradition of Muziki wa Dansi, the dramatic texts remind of the way folk narratives are told in Tanzania. As the dramatic Bongo Fleva texts make use of direct speech, often of several characters, and without introduction, it seems that traditional techniques of story-telling have an effect on Bongo Fleva rap lyrics. In this article a rap text of this kind, Mikasi (\"Sex\"), released in 2004 by Bongo Fleva artist Ngwair, will be analysed with regard to its form, content and function. As it conteain different roles and dialogues, it is suitable for the investigation of youths`talk. A special focus will be put on the self-portrayal of the youths in the dialogues of the song, and on the question how boasting and dissing is performed in a dialogic text.

Over the last two decades Bongo Fleva music has become a popular form of entertainment as well as a key cultural element among Tanzanian urban youth. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of pseudonyms in this musical genre in Tanzania. It focuses on how Bongo Fleva artists adopt their pseudonyms and discusses their role in identity formation among urban youths in contemporary Tanzania. The paper argues that pseudonyms in Bongo Fleva, as in various other fields, have an important role to play in portraying one’s identity, culture, characteristics, profile, actions, hope and imagination.

This article addresses the question how Bongo Fleva (or Flava, from the word ‘flavour’) - also defined as muziki wa kizazi kipya (‘music of a new generation’) - and Hip-Hop in Swa-hili, reflect Tanzanian urban youth culture, with its changing identities, life-styles, aspirations, constraints, and language. As far as young people residing in small centres and semi-rural ar-eas are concerned, I had the impression that they have the same aspirations as their urban counterparts, especially those in Dar es Salaam. They keep well up to date on urban practices through performances, radio and local tabloids, even if they lack the same job and leisure op-portunities as their city brothers. Although I do not take ‘youth’ as a fixed and homogeneous category, the ‘young generation’ has been assuming a central, though frequently ambiguous, position in many places in Africa (for this issue, see Burgess 2005). Here, however, I have chosen to focus on two urban contexts, namely Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, the sites of my one-and- -half-year fieldwork between 2004 and the end of 2005.

For over a decade now, Bongo Fleva has been the dominant category of popular music in Tanzania, surpassing Muziki wa Dansi (dance music) and Taarab in terms of its presence in the media. Bongo Fleva has become deversified in the last years and at present includes elements of traditional music as well as popular dance music, both of African and Western origin (Raab 2006: 43 ff.). As a result, contemporary Bongo Fleva is stylistically complex. Ther lyrics of Bongo Fleva are specifically determined by 1) the use of Swahili youth language and slang expressions. 2) the representation of modern and young lifestyles, and 3) socio-critical contens with pedagocial and moralistic tendencies. The lyrics of Bongo Fleva are marked by youth discourse which is most important for the construction of youth identities. While Bongo Fleva text with dialogic structure seem to continue the older tradition of Muziki wa Dansi, the dramatic texts remind of the way folk narratives are told in Tanzania. As the dramatic Bongo Fleva texts make use of direct speech, often of several characters, and without introduction, it seems that traditional techniques of story-telling have an effect on Bongo Fleva rap lyrics. In this article a rap text of this kind, Mikasi (\"Sex\"), released in 2004 by Bongo Fleva artist Ngwair, will be analysed with regard to its form, content and function. As it conteain different roles and dialogues, it is suitable for the investigation of youths`talk. A special focus will be put on the self-portrayal of the youths in the dialogues of the song, and on the question how boasting and dissing is performed in a dialogic text.