Bongo Flava (Still) Hidden „Underground”1 Rap from Morogoro, Tanzania

Bongo Flava, the Tanzanian variety of HipHop has become a big issue in Tanzania during the past few years. More and more young people use rap lyrics to express themselves. This article first gives a brief overview of the history of Bongo Flava and discusses the topics, lyrics and the sound of this music. It then turns to the situation of the underground rappers with focus on the regional capital Morogoro. The second part of the article discusses selected parts of three songs that were written by Juma Madoweka, one of the young rappers from Morogoro who rap because they want to pass on a message to the society they live in.