Ray C

She is young, hip and can sings beautifully. Her belly dance, too, has no equal in Tanzania. She is arguably the only musician in East Africa to perform a fusion of R&B, Bhangra, Taarab and Bongo Flava all in one album

Bongo Flava (Kiswahili hip hop that began in the early 1990s and appeals to young adults, i.e. 12-35 year olds) was pioneered in East Africa by Swahili Nation, a Sweden-based East African Kiswahili rap band consisting of Tanzanian Cool James a.k.a. James Dandu, Kenyan Andrew Muturi, and Ugandans Ken Kayongo, Charlie King Todwong, and Luther Kintu. Critics credit East Africa Television and East Africa Radio for formalising the genre.

Welcome to the world of 22-year-old Rehema Chalamila, the musician whose interest in music was identified and honed at talent shows at Kabojja Secondary School in Uganda. Born in Iringa and educated in Dar es Salaam, the radio DJ and recording artist is known as Ray C in music circles. Ray C consolidated her position on the East African music landscape when she grabbed the "Best Female Artist of the Year in Uganda and Tanzania" award at the 4th Kisima Music Awards in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 19, 2004. This was quite a feat for a musician who was only two years ago catapulted onto the Tanzanian music charts with her debut album, 'Mapenzi yangu' (My love).

Tanzania, like the rest of East Africa, is a largely audio-tape market. Producing a single album costs about US$80 while the cost of producing an entire album is US$800-US$900. Retailing at US$2, it is not difficult for a good album to sell up to 25000 copies. Ray C's 'Mapenzi yangu', for instance, sold plenty of copies and earned platinum status for the young musician who must work hard at her relationship with the media if she has to succeed in show business.

It is appears easier for a journalist to get an interview with Presidents Benjamin Mkapa, Yoweri Museveni or Mwai Kibaki than with Ray C. It is therefore hardly surprising that we had to prepare this story over a span of two months as we just could not catch up with Ray C who kept on promising us non-materialising interviews. We phoned, sent short text messages (SMS) and emailed the girl who sounds polite but whose cordiality hides a lot. We chased her around Morogoro, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, waited for her to show up in Zanzibar and Nairobi, and even begged her manager to ensure she showed up. She eventually did. But only for a couple of minutes!

We were later told by many journalists and photographers who have tried to have interview sessions with her that she considered herself too important to talk to journalists, quite a contradiction to someone seeking fame and riches from showbiz.

Yes, that is how Ray C, the musician who returned home from Kabboja to complete her studies at FK Secondary School in Dar es Salaam and began presenting programmes at East Africa Radio, prefers to conduct her business. "The first time I held a microphone," she says, "was at East Africa Radio. I was a Form Three student." She left three years late, in 2001, for Clouds FM radio station where she readily connected with music listeners with her well-loved programmes, 'Dr Beat', 'Saturday Fever', 'Mid-Morning Jam' and 'Coco Friday Disco Night'. "These programmes had a lot to do with local music and I was inspired by the very music I played on air," she says. "I got to know the artists, see them perform and hang out with them. This largely influenced me into trying music." She was not sure she was going to hit the charts when she wrote her first song, Mapenzi Yangu.

This single was released on Clouds FM and soon there was demand for it from telephone requests on air. "It was different, not the common hip-hop type. It was a Kiswahili song with an Indian influence. Many listeners wondered why I had chosen to flavour my music with Indian melody," she says, explaining that she likes Indian movies. "I have loved and watched them since I was a little kid. They move me." She says she chose to fuse her single with bhangra in order to stand out of the crowd. "I wanted to produce something that could become different amongst hundreds of new songs produced here. I could only imagine the interest a song of that touch would create. It was so big that I was motivated to do an album," she tells FEMINA magazine of Dar es Salaam

The 'Mapenzi yangu' album contained hits such as Uko wapi (Where are you?), Mapenzi yangu, and Nimezama (Overwhelmed). But that was then. Ray C now has a second album, Na wewe milele (With you forever) that is set to do well among her growing number of fans across East Africa thanks to the regional East Africa Television and East Africa Radio that is aired across national boundaries in Dar, Nairobi and Kampala. In fact, it was this fact that enabled her to bag a Kisima Award by the largely youthful viewers and fans who see her on screen in their living rooms performing Na wewe Milele.

The album features Na wewe milele, Wanifuata nini (Why do you chase me?), and Namtafuta (I seek him).

Determined to join the stars and become one of them, this quest has seen Ray C go on an extended performance tour of China and Britain. She tells FEMINA magazine of her Chinese adventure, "I worked with different people from the same group of bands and we hit one city after another. It was a wonderful experience. I got lots of fans who would follow me on streets." After six months of performances in several Chinese cities in 2003, Ray C-accompanied by KORA Award nominee Lady Jaydee (a.k.a.Judith Daines Wambura Mbibo)-held several gigs in London alongside African Jambo, a Tanzanian band based in the England.

She says she has learnt that people want innovation in music. So she fuses two or more styles. This has resulted in a style she refers to as IndoAfro (Indian and African Taarab and Bongo Flavour). In three years, Ray C plans to own a recording studio. But before that, she says, she wants to go to school. "I want to learn sound engineering and proper song writing. My experience from China and England has shown me that working with a live band instead of playback made in studio by one person creates better music."

Most Bongo flava musicians have been criticised for their inability to play any musical instrument and for their reliance on playback that usually fail them at live performances. It is therefore heartwarming to note that young Ray C is taking the criticism seriously and therefore helping salvage Bongo Flavour artistes from this shortcoming. It is not uncommon for Bongo Flavour artistes to cross swords with their DJs during performances gone awry. Thespians like Mgunga mwa Mnyenyelwa of Parapanda Lab Trust, singer Carola Kinasha of Shada Band, music producer Marlon Linje, and Waziri Ally (leader of the Kilimanjaro Band) are some of the people who are critical of Bongo Flavour that they term 'mziki wa fujo' (music of chaos). Instead of relying on producers to put together tracks for them, Ally says, Bongo Flava artistes should consider learning how to play musical instruments, write and arrange music instead of merely singing to backup tracks prepared for them by producers

Challenging them to creativity and innovation, Linje says Bongo artistes must learn to listen to other musicians and music styles, and introduce innovation in their works. Ray C appears to be listening to such counsel and that is why she plans to play live, i.e. with a band. Recently she failed to perform at Zanzibar International Film Festival because the organisers could not pay for her band to come to Zanzibar.

Although she does not like discussing her love life, Ray C says she would like to raise a family of two children, something she sings about in her Na wewe milele. But does she have any hobbies? She says she enjoys traveling, reading the Bible, praying, and being alone. She also swims, watches movies, plays badminton and relaxes with friends. "I like a good life and I am so jealous when I fall in love," she says.

Dislikes-does she have any? "Yes, I don't like having many friends," she says, disclosing that she has no 'best friend' in her life. And that is the life of Rehema Chalamila.

Full of contradictions.

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