Artists

This is a group composed of teachers and pupils of the Kilimani Madrasa (Islamic school), founded in 1997 in the Kiungani section of Zanzibar town. Qasida Swiffat Nabawiyyatul offers Holy Koran classes as well as qasida (religious music) to pupils ranging from age 4 to 30 and upwards.

Qasida is performed read more

Katapila Ngoma started in 1980, with 15 musicians playing traditional drum and dance music of the Pogoro tribe, from Morogoro region of mainland Tanzania.

Around 1986 they added more cultural traditions to their regular repertoire, including sindimba, lizombe and others. From 1990 their fanbase started to explode, when they developed a read more

Hamadi A. Seneda, aka Madee, was born in 1980 in Dar es Salaam. He studied in the town of Tanga, in the coastal region of Tanzania. His first song Kazi Yake Mola (God's Work Has No Mistakes) was an instant smash and resulted in him receiving invitations to perform all read more

Elemotho Gaalelekwe Richardo Mosimane is a Namibian born musician who composes, records and plays his own music. Elemotho plays acoustic guitar and sings in his mother-tongue Setswana as well as other Namibian languages.

Through his music, Elomotho turns oppression into liberation and failure into triumph, where past, present and future is read more

Said Abdallah, aka DJ Side, is one of the island's hardest-working radio presenters.

DJ Side (pronounced "See-day") spends most of his time at Zenji FM (96.8), "Sauti ya Pwani" (Voice of the Coast) - Zanzibar's first private radio station.

Side started in music at Zanzibar's Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA), where he read more

Tarbia group was founded in Zanzibar in 1985. They are based at a local madrasa where they practice qasida (Islamic praise music) using dufu (hand-held frame drum) and other drums. They are highly respected among the island's Muslim community for their singing and melodies. The group performs at religious as read more