<p><span><span>- Let’s imagine for a second that international border crossing was a possibility. Now, let’s imagine that you took the opportunity for a trip around the globe to try to find the world’s wildest music.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>In our imaginary scenario, you would hopefully find yourself on the East coast of Africa - in Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. While there, maybe you would get a tip off and head to Mburahati, a lower socio-economic area in the city’s east. There, you would hopefully discover the home of singeli music – the local hip hop offshoot with jackhammer stop-start rhythms, glitchy effects, cheap synth sounds, sped up vocal samples, and rappers who freestyle for up to half an hour at times. You might make it to a block party, where participants do the chura dance – a kind of mass frenetic twerking. At this point in our hypothetical journey, you may well cancel the rest of your itinerary, convinced that nowhere else will you find more insane pop music than this.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Sounds of Pamoja </em>is the name of a new compilation of singeli music – put out, of course, by the amazing Nyege Nyege Tapes from neighbouring Uganda. Nyege Nyege has released a few singeli records in the last few years. <em>Sounds of Pamoja</em> showcases the eponymous Pamoja Records, where the production is mostly handled by label owner and teen prodigy <strong>Duke</strong>. Duke’s style is definitely on the more extreme end of the singeli spectrum. The eleven tracks here are all well over five minutes long, and generally follow a similar formula – TV and radio samples, rapid glitchy rhythms, trebly synth sounds, sped up chipmunk vocal samples, and a variety of rappers barking breathlessly over the top. The focus on MC’s rather than pop singers is one of the things that sets Pamoja apart from other singeli labels like Sisso, who were also compiled by Nyege Nyege in 2017.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Amazingly, singeli music in Tanzania is not some fringe style enjoyed by a few connoisseurs. In a country of 60 million people whose median age is just 18, singeli is becoming the dominant pop music style. It is the soundtrack to huge block parties and weddings, all over the radio and television airwaves, even used in the official propaganda of the country’s ruling political party.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The videos of singeli parties are a treat – dusty street corners taken over by a DJ and a wildly dancing mob. And it is a joy seeing this unhinged and energetic creativity from young people with a variety of musical influences and new-found access to technology allowing them to make a sound of their own. Singeli’s roots are in much more accessible music – Western hip hop of course, but also afro-pop, traditional drumming, and the Tanzanian pop-rap style of “bongo flava”. Singeli is like punk rock or hip hop; in that it’s young kids with a DIY spirit taking music into unfamiliar territory.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Still, singeli is definitely not easy listening; and even those of us who appreciate it might struggle to get through the 70 minutes of music on <em>Sounds Of Pamoja </em>in one sitting. But let’s just be thankful for the wonders of internet music proliferation and the adventurous repertoire of labels like Nyege Nyege Tapes - which means even without travelling to the ghettos of Dar Es Salaam we can enjoy the thrill of what might well be the wildest music being made anywhere in the world right now.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Andy Paine.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=985231378/size=large/bgcol=ff…; seamless><a href="https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-of-pamoja">Sounds of Pamoja by VA</a></iframe>