Ni Raha Tu-AY| Ni Raha Tu-AY Feat.Complex[/caption] As the world was welcoming the new millennium with illusion global threat of Y2K, the east African nation of Tanzania was also going through its own share of changes. The scene resembled of a man standing in the middle of a burning lake of himself, unable to escape with time running out faster than a rocket.
The country had lost her founding father, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere a year earlier. Everyone was devastated and worried. The future of the nation without him was certain but doubtful. It seemed like the engines for the country had suddenly gone off. Darkness had fallen! Dar-es-salaam, in particular, was then a city under a smutty darkness. Five years earlier [1995], the first multi-party elections had taken place.
The seasoned journalist and diplomat, Benjamin William Mkapa had taken the oath with muted promises of changing the economical gateways. He asked everyone to tighten his or her belt. He had a daunting task of changing the sickening sensation of life plunging downward that had occupied the minds of millions of Tanzanians. Benjamin Mkapa’s economical policies [under the wings of his party-CCM] were not clearly understood. Few people, to this date, have grasped well what he wanted to do. All I know is; he wanted the country to be self-reliant.
Mkapa thought [and I agree with him] that for a country as wealthy as Tanzania to be like a poor and lonesome global peddler is ridiculous. People who had lots of money during the tenure of the second President of the United Republic, Ali Hassan Mwinyi [Mzee Ruksa], suddenly were broke. Money was simply not available and jobs weren’t visible. They were trying times that got nicknamed “ukapa”.
People who had felt delicious and were able to laugh at practically anything during the Mzee Ruksa era were no longer laughing. Their living quarters suddenly had somber moments close to funeral homes. In the midst of all that, a young man with a wide boyish smile had taken a journey from the nearby city of Morogoro to Dar-es-salaam. Unlike his many trips to the “big city” before in the 90s, this time he wasn’t going to visit.
He was determined like a brave soldier to realize his dreams. He wanted to conquer the city [and the nation] not just an artist but also a great artist. From the distance, he had formed a vision to become a pioneer in how Tanzania’s music can be business mixed with pleasure. That boy with a boyish smile and charm is whom we know today as AY although he still answers to his real name, Ambwene Yessayah.
Before he boarded those fast moving mini-buses [Toyota Coasters] to Dar-es-salaam, he had all signs of fears and anxiety. You could understand him. Dar is a big city. It’s the city that thrives on its rough-edged traditions. No wonder it first adopted the nickname “Bongo” before the whole country became known for the same name.
He had decided to conquer the fear of the unknown head-on. Apart from few relatives in Dar-es-salaam, he personally knew and was in close contacts with very few people. Lucky for him, he had lived in many cities and towns in Tanzania. His parents were civil servants and according to Nyerere’s Ujamaa na Kujitegemea policies, people were moved from coast to coast in the name of efficiency and integration.
Him having lived in many regions of Tanzania would become an “asset” for him in years to come. He found himself able to relate well with anyone across the nation. Lots of regions can claim him being their “homeboy”. In Dar he had maintained close contact with two friends whom he had gone to school with in central and midlands Tanzania. These were Snare and Buff G with whom later they would form one of the most talented music “gang”; The East Coast Team.
That is where he met Hamisi Mwinjuma [MwanaFA] who would become his best friend and music collaborator todate. These friends officially welcomed him in the city that had engines in its blood. As he later on watched trains chuffed out in their clouds of smoke and steam, he became more confident that his dreams wouldn’t disappear as a smoke.
He firstly settled in Upanga, the neighborhood that was known to harbor the wealthy and famous. By then, Upanga was one of the most desirable “hoods” in the city. For AY and his friends, Upanga was just like any other “hood”. They were broke. The statutes and concrete benches meant nothing than decorations. Daring to be unique was in their vocabularies but it was muted.
Days became nights. AY spent those days and nights fine-tuning his dreams while watching ceiling boards at nights and dust movements during the day. Without any good source of income, life became tougher. His brain was working as if he had just taken steroids to boost his memory. He could almost hear helicopters wheeling like vultures over the kill even though none of these were real. The shadows looked like stalking gray cats. With fatigue oozing from every pore from lack of sleep and deep thoughts, you could find him in Masaki [another Porsche neighborhood] or Mwenge. Reason? Those two locations had two among the earliest recording studios in Dar-es-salaam. I am talking about MJ Records and Bongo Records. These studios were not only new; they had also embraced what we now call Bongo Fleva/ Bongo Hip-Hop. He finally found himself spending most of his time at Bongo Records the joint that would become almost his “training camp”. P-Funk [the owner and senior producer at Bongo Records] enjoyed his presence and always opened the doors for him. He, therefore, got a chance to listen to lots of tracks and beats. However, in his mind, his presence at Bongo Records was still like quick-moving shadows of clouds skimmed over the empty landscape. He needed some sort of redemption. His “redemption” came when one day during those “blind visits” at Bongo Records, he wrote and climbed on the booth to record Ni Raha Tu. Yes he wrote it right there and then. When I asked him what happened that he went to Bongo Records/ Studio without prepared lyrics, with a wider smile he confessed, “Jeff, in those days just hanging out at studios such as Bongo Records, was cool. Few people were allowed to be near P-Funk Majani. Something, however, was different in Ni Raha Tu. It wasn’t “conscious”. By then Tanzania’s artists had the USA’s East Coast and West Coast mentality except they didn’t dwell in the violence part as it was in the US. They wrote deep about what is happening in their hood and how they view their society in deep thoughts. AY thought enough of that has been said and he wanted to introduce something new. He believed in working hard and partying hard. He believed in power of thoughts. If you think you are sad, probably you are! He believed that the “traditional” public-relations approach through music was okay but wouldn’t have worked the way he envisioned it at that time. Regardless of “Ukapa” that was going on, AY thought people could still accept the harsh reality and have fun. It was party and happy times. Raha Tu! If there was competition he had figured out how to outmaneuver the competition by taking strategic steps. It worked. It was during those countless days and hours at Bongo Records, P-Funk Majani gave him the name that will later come to not only shape how he does music but also how he handles music business. P-Funk called him “Mzee wa Commercial” after realizing AY could flow with literally any kind of beats. Throw upon him any kind of beat and he will hang on with it. P-Funk thought this young man could commercialize anything musical. He was right, as it became evident years later till now. After the studio sessions etc, it wasn’t an easy game to push Ni Raha Tu forward. The media was polarized with “deep conscious stuff”. It was hip-hop to the core. Here was one young fella with a different kind of gig. He pushed forward anyway. It didn’t matter if he was swimming in the wind-whipped waters of the bay or not. Back then; Bongo Fleva program on Clouds FM hosted by DJ Steve B was one of the hottest places to drop a new single. DJ Steve B was one of the most sought after DJs by artists. So he handed his work to Clouds FM and patiently waited in the next day session. For him, unfortunately, he had to stick his ears to the radio longer. Steve B had finished his Bongo Fleva session and his song didn’t see the airwaves. His mind became like a rough sea winds that swept like lost souls. He was almost devastated. Here was the song that he believed it was his break-through but it never saw the light of the day. He obviously pushed his bottom lip forward in thoughts. It was a look of disbelief, rage and frustration all over again. He didn’t sleep well and the next day, in the early morning hours he was awake and alert. The meter band on his radio was still on 88.4FM. The session was Rise and Shine. Seven, a young Presenter/ DJ called Seven was coming in to “wake up’ the almost never sleeping citizens of Dar. To AY’s surprise, she started with Ni Raha Tu. He stood still at the middle of his almost empty room in a pleased surprise. All of sudden he felt that wonderful sense of going home. A blush of pleasure rose to his cheeks. It was a small but satisfying victory. Almost every program for that day on Clouds FM and other radio stations played Ni Raha Tu. If nickname “Mzee wa Commercial” was a blessing or a curse, it would take him couple of months before he realized if he is going to live up to his name or not. It took him time to make money. The first smile to the bank teller came after a show in Mwanza at Deluxe Club in 2001. Another artist, Solo Thang, connected him to that deal. To get to Mwanza he had to take a bus via Nairobi. Those were the days different. Mwanza was very far away from Dar-es-salaam. As he sat in the bus, he said a little prayer that gave him the calmness as if he had taken the strange drug of calm. Few crocuses of hope poked through the surface. After his wild performance at Deluxe he got paid 60,000 TZS. That was his first amount of money through his performance as an artist. He felt the wonderfully feeling of happiness rising inside him. He loved every minute of it. AY slowly started changing the platform of music in Tanzania by cleverly incorporating the “business sense” of it. He is one of the first artists in Tanzania to get deals on products endorsements. Throughout his career he has worked with the corporate clients such as Vodacom, Airtel, Samsung, Konyagi, Uganda Waragi etc to name just a few.. Years later, he would live up to his nickname more than anyone. He now works as an artist while managing other artists and booking agent for other artists. He owns a company, Unity Entertainment. He is an executive producer for a hit TV show Mkasi. It all started with Ni Raha Tu. Here are two versions of Ni Raha Tu. First is AY as a solo artist and second is a remix with the late Complex [RIP]. Enjoy and spread the words…stay tuned for another Review and Re-Release coming soon. NI RAHA TU-AY[Original Version] NI RAHA TU-AY Feat.Complex [Remix]
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