Was Ben Pol about art or controversy?

Dar es Salaam. Bongo Flava has come a long way, this is an indisputable fact!

Some 25 years ago nobody knew about Bongo Flava and the early disciples of this genre were branded as ‘hooligans’.

Groups like ‘Kwanza Unit’ and even ‘Hard Blasters Crew’ then only passed as indiscipline gangs that were out to terrorize neighborhoods. Nobody cared; at most they risked arrest for being idle and disorderly.

Their music hardly got air play on the national broadcaster which was the only radio station and even in local night clubs American hip hop and Congolese tunes remained a dominant force.

The earliest promoters of this music such as Taji Liundi aka Master T, DJ Kim and The Boys, Mike Mhagama , Mawingu Studios and many others faced stiff resistance from the establishment for they did not consider them serious even as they tried to convince the public that there lay a bright future.

The earliest and most reliable account of how Bongo Flava found its way onto Tanzanian airways has Taji Luindi at the heart of the story.

Taji Liundi the original creator and producer of the ‘DJ Show’ program on Radio One had already started airing songs by fledgling local artistes since late 1994. Mike Mhagama later joined the popular programme as an under-study to Master T.

Almost three decades down the road, the genre has undergone a complete metamorphosis and therefore it would be close to blasphemy to brand Bongo Flava as music performed by hooligans.

Even as pockets of resistance continue to exist, Bongo Flava has passed the test, it is listened to by both the young and the old and by large it has come to be accepted as Tanzania’s music.

Bongo Flava has gone on to prove its early doubters wrong, for it is now played in mainstream media and even at state banquet.

Outside Tanzania, Bongo Flava has become a resoundingly popular sound in neighboring, culturally related countries such as Kenya and Uganda.

Artistes like Diamond Platnumz and AliKiba are massive brands with a matching global appeal to the extent of winning the MTV Europe awards in two successive years.

The demographic might not be very clear, but thousands of youth are employed through this industry which has churned out stars who are now multi millionaires eking a living out of music.

Like in many other African countries, the industry remains informal but even then many commentators admit that it is a gem that is waiting explode.

These gains at some points have been threatened by the very own disciples who at the apex of their success do the most unthinkable, shoot themselves in the foot.

The last two weeks have been full of mayhem, first it was songstress Linah exposing her baby bump, then came RnB singer Ben Pol who posed stark naked in a photo shoot.

Then this week came the explosive posts by video vixen Gigi Money that left many spellbound! This was more like a real Gigi Money act and not many were surprised, for she is capable of doing just anything!!!

Showbiz as we all know thrives on controversy worldwide; for it is the fodder on which some artistes keep their careers rolling even after their sell by dates are long gone.

Having a good career going you would think Ben Pol doesn’t need publicity stunts especially with songs like Muziki, Sophia and Moyo Mashine doing so well.

His latest effort at publicity just like in Linah’s case riled his legion of followers attracting a barrage of comments as some labeled it distasteful and therefore taking Bongo Flava back in dark days.

But if this was meant to be a teaser for an upcoming project, then it is one that is doomed to fail because his fans are not taking it lightly at all.

Of those who did not take it easily was rapper Fid Q who is considered to be Ben Pol’s closest confidant and to him, this was taking Bongo Flava back to the days when many believed it was music for hooligans.

“I sincerely don’t know what Ben is trying to achieve with his latest photo shoot but from the surface I should admit that it was in bad taste,” he told Clouds FM’s Soudy Brown.

He advised Ben Pol and other artistes to let art speak for itself instead of trying publicity stunts that portray a very negative image of the industry which is only gaining roots.

This to his fans who in the past considered him as a ray of optimism in an industry riddled with all sorts of scandals was a retrogression and he is likely to struggle with image issues. In his response, Ben Pol said the photo shoot was in response to the comments said this was just part of the project that he is working on featuring Darasa in a song called ‘Tatu’ which talks about kidnapping.

“We wanted to create something that matches with the objective of the music that I am about to release and I don’t see anything that is strange. As an artiste I wanted to create something that will bring out the imagery,” says Ben Pol.

He adds: When someone is kidnapped he loses freedom, and there are just so many things that can happen to him. This is what I am trying to show in the picture. He could be right in trying to showcase his art in through a medium that has never been tested before even though it brings about controversy.

“The way every fan is supposed to perceive a piece of art varies and it is not up to the artiste to tell the audience what he wants them to perceive. As artistes our job is to create and we leave the rest to the audience,” he told Millard Ayo this week.

The thin line between the intended creativity and the perception could be a barrier that Ben Pol and his team will have to struggle to explain to his audience.

Even with modernization, much of the larger Tanzanian audience remains a very conservative one, likely to raise eyebrows at any attempt towards indecent exposure.