Mr. II

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Joseph Mbilinyi, known for his stage names Mr. II and Sugu and 2-proud, is one of the founders of the hip hop music scene in Tanzania. He has travelled around the world performing. He's respected among his peers for his outstanding contribution to helping the music business find its own direction. Mr. II was stems from Mtwara in Southern Tanzania, started to rap in 1990, in his youth when he was still in school. His inspirations were Ice Cube, Niggers With Attitude and above all Tupak Shakur. Mr. II was the first Tanzanian artist to have success with his own verses in Swahili and because of it he was who able to dominate the Tanzanian Hip Hop Bongo Flava scene throughout the 1990s. Through his music and language he express and addressed politics, social inequalities and other problems that affected Tanzanians. Most would consider his music as a voice for the voiceless, his brand of rap is soulful, lyrical, rhythmical and from the heart. This because Mr. II is not afraid to tell it like it is, undertaking sensitive issues of concern to many Tanzanians such as democracy, child prostitution, police brutality and corruption.[1] He became so popular that his music reached audiences even in rural areas where rap had not been heard before. Due to the quality of his music, older people were more acceptance to his music and contributed to making him the first Tanzanian rapper to have a mainstream hit. Also making Mr II (Tz) M-Net Best Male Singer Grammy Award Winner for Tanzania 2001.Mr. II is East Africa’s most popular Bongo Flava icon, and through this genre he was able to make a difference and create opportunities for the youth. [2] He currently lives in London and is preparing a new internationally released album.


Mr II is the most productive Tanzanian hip hop musician, given the number of released albums:

  • Ni Mimi (1995)
  • Ndani ya Bongo (1996)
  • Niite Mister II (1998)
  • Nje ya Bongo (1999)
  • Millennium (2000)
  • Muziki na Maisha (2001)
  • Itikadi (2002)
  • Sugu (2004)
  • Coming of Age-Ujio Wa Umri (2007)


[edit] Style and Message

Sugu’s renegade style has led to the development of the Bongo Flava genre in Tanzania and all of East Africa. Sugu, which loosely translates to Stubborn, has been just that in terms of his popular longevity. With over a decade of success, Sugu has maintained his rebellious persona as a social outcast. Performing in Swahili, Sugu addresses social issues that plague both urban and rural East Africans. His socially conscious lyrics touch on issues ranging from prostitution to emigration to the plight of street children. [3] Examples of his politically charged music is apparent in the songs Hali Halisi,[1] (real situation) in which he depicts the struggles of street life, and the oppressive conditions of the government, prisons, and judicial system.

"Everyday is us against the police and the police against us

The judge at the court is waiting for us

The prison officer is waiting for us[4] "

 His lyrical style which is methodic yet quick has been mimicked by many of the genre’s newcomers. His peers view “his observant narratives, canny wordplay and flamboyant delivery” [5] as a trademark of their genre.

Mr. II is an outspoken advocate of Bongo Flava, he would argue that “Hip-Hop (as well as Reggae) should be deemed a separate genre because it is based on long traditions, while Bongo Flava is in fact a ‘new’ genre, and a new music culture (‘music of a new generation’) ”[6]. He also takes on issues such as the commercialization of Tanzanian Hip-hop and advocates preserving what he sees as authentic Tanzanian hip-hop. He sees authentic Tanzanian Hip-Hop (Bongo Flava) as an identifiably separate genre from that which comes from the United States.

Sugu has seen success in various realms of the African Hip Hop scene. He is the primary organizer of the annual Tanzania Hip-Hop Summit, a yearly convention of East Africa’s most prominent and up-and-coming hip-hop figures. The summit is held in Dar-es-Salaam in December and brings together everyone from artists to producers to TV representatives.[7] He was also the producer of Deiwaka, a hip-hop magazine that is no longer in print and is founder and owner of Deiwaka Productions. Sugu is one of the most recognizable artists in the world of East African Hip-hop, has won numerous Pan-African music awards and has performed at a few international festivals. [8] Regardless of his efforts to differentiate himself and his genre, Mr. II continues to be compared to the many great Hip-Hop artists from the U.S such as Nas, Jay-Z or Run DMC. [9] [10]

Mr. II's song "Haki" has been hailed as the "definitive bongoflava anthem" In Swahili Haki means freedom and justice[11] Mr. II's lyrics address themes that are typical of Bongoflava. Bongoflava "tackle[s] subjects faced by the continent and the world over: poverty, ambition, success, money, HIV/AIDS"[12]


[edit] External links

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Microsoft Word - Stichproben_Nr5_FERTIG.doc
  2. ^ Bongoflava: The Primer - Pop Playground - Stylus Magazine
  3. ^ BBC - Africa On Your Street - Hosts - JJC - November 2004 - Hip-Hop in Kenya and Tanzania
  4. '^ Lemelle, Sidney J.| Ni Wapi Tunakwenda': Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha|In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press.
  5. ^ http://www.nubianunderground.com/nu/main/chamber/?id=10151 The Chamber Press Release. Date Posted: June, 2005 PST Submitted By Sir Prestige/Social-Misfit Entertainment
  6. ^ Swahili Forum 14 (2007); 207-223‘MIMI NI MSANII, KIOO CHA JAMII’1 Urban Youth Culture in Tanzania as Seen Through Bongo Flava and Hip-Hop2, By MARIA SURIANO
  7. ^ BBC - Africa On Your Street - Hosts - JJC - November 2004 - Hip-Hop in Kenya and Tanzania
  8. ^ Winner of the African Hiphop.com remix competition for Sugu’s “Moto chini”. January 3, 2008, Copyright © 2007 BAB KUBWA · Web Design by Bab Kubwa Media
  9. ^ Bongoflava: The Primer - Pop Playground - Stylus Magazine
  10. ^ http://www.nubianunderground.com/nu/main/chamber/?id=10151 The Chamber Press Release. Date Posted: June, 2005 PST Submitted By Sir Prestige/Social-Misfit Entertainment
  11. ^ http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/pop_playground/bongoflava-the-primer.htm Bongoflava: The Primer. March 7 2008.
  12. ^ http://www.bongoflava.com/history.html March 7, 2008.