A bittersweet affair for some artiste dabbling in politics

CCM’s Hamis Taletale (L) and Hamis Mwinjuma

What you need to know:

Some of the casualties include Joseph Haule - a.k.a Professor Jay - who entered Parliament representing Mikumi constituency on the Chadema party ticket in 2015.

The 2020 elections have come with some upsets as some formidable forces in the music industry have found themselves on the receiving end of defeats in the political arena.

Some of the casualties include Joseph Haule - a.k.a Professor Jay - who entered Parliament representing Mikumi constituency on the Chadema party ticket in 2015. However, after serving a 5-year term, the gifted rapper failed to retain the seat in the 2020 elections, losing to CCM’s Denis Lazaro who bagged 31,411 votes against Professor Jay’s 17,375.

Apart from rapping, Professor Jay, 44, is also a songwriter who became a popular hip hop artiste in the Bongo Flava sub-genre. He released his first album Machozi, Jasho na Damu in 2001, following it up with Mapinduzi Halisi in 2003. He went on to release four more studio albums, with his latest being Kazi Kazi released in 2016, a year after he was elected to Parliament.

Prof Jay has won many accolades as an artiste, which include the Best Hip Hop Album at the 2004 Kilimanjaro Music Awards for his Mapinduzi Halisi release. In 2006, he won Best Song for Nikusaidiaje. The following year he bagged another trohpy in Uganda for Best Ugandan Song for his collaboration with Ugandan artiste Jose Chameleone.

Throughout his political career, he maintained close ties with his hip hop roots and would from time to time release songs.

Whether he’ll get back into rapping fulltime or anchor a new career path remains to be seen.

Another casualty representing Chadema is Joseph Mbilinyi who goes by the stage name ‘Sugu,’ or ‘Mr II.’

Sugu established his prowess in the music industry in the early ’90s as a rapper. He started rapping when he was still in school inspired by western rappers the likes of Ice Cube, Ni**az With Attitude and the late Tupac Shakur.

He is widely known as the first Tanzanian rapper to have major success in hip hop.

His journey into politics didn’t come as a surprise judging by the subject matter of his songs. Sugu often tackled politics, social inequalities and other societal issues. He became known as the ‘voice for the voiceless’ with a lyrical brilliance to match his convictions which were often at odds with government views.

In the 2010 elections, Sugu decided to formally enter politics by vying for the parliamentary seat in Mbeya Urban.

He went on to win the elections and served two consecutive terms.

However, his reign came to an end in the 2020 elections where he faced stiff competition from CCM’s Tulia Ackson. Ackson, a former deputy Speaker of the parliament won the Mbeya Urban constituency with a total 75,225 votes against Sugu’s 37,591.

This marked the end of Sugu’s and Chadema’s rule in that constituency and ushered in a new regime under the ruling CCM party.

But, as music fans are still coming to terms with the defeats handed to some of their favourite artistes on the political battleground, there’s new blood from the industry that’s being ushered in.

Though he is not a singer or rapper, Hamis Taletale, a.k.a Babu Tale, is a household name in Bongo Flava. He is famously known as Diamond Platnumz’ manager.

Babu Tale is a talent manager and co-founder of the WCB Wasafi music label. He represents Diamond Platnumz, Madee, Rayvanny, Mbosso and Dogo Janja.

He has maintained a calm persona even though he is behind some of the biggest names in Bongo music and the entire East African region.

Tale is also the first manager to bring home the BET accolade to Tanzania through Rayvanny and the first in Africa to win the MTV Europe Music Awards for both ‘Best African Act’ and ‘Worldwide Act’ through Diamond Platnumz’ wins in 2015.

His political journey is fairly new having decided to throw in his chip in the 2020 race vying for the Morogoro South constituency under the CCM party. Luckily for him, he went unopposed which meant victory was almost certain.

During the preliminary campaign trails, he had the backing of his artistes, especially Diamond who often showed support through his Instagram account.

As the political tide was gaining momentum, Tale, unfortunately, lost his wife, something which distracted his zeal. He, however, remained committed to his course of becoming a parliamentarian and managed to find solace from friends and family. He now begins his new journey as a politician and whether or not he will still be involved in the music world remains a matter of ‘time will tell’.

Another CCM representative is hip hop maestro Hamis Mwinjuma - a.k.a Mwana FA - who decided he wanted to taste the political waters by vying for the Muheza parliamentary constituency.

The self-styled ‘Choir Master’ is credited for releasing some of the best bangers in Tanzania’s hip hop realm, which include hits such as Mabinti, Yalaiti, Dume Suruali, We endelea Tu, and Hello, among others.

His political ambitions follow in the footsteps of fellow hip hop artistes Sugu and Professor Jay who have now bowed out of parliament.

He was heavily involved in the campaign trails after receiving the nod to vie for a parliamentary seat by CCM’s election committee.

Other artistes who have also served in Parliament include the late Captain John Komba - who was known for his deep vocals - and Vicky Kamata.