Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania and Kenya. It is influenced by the musical traditions of the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Taarab rose to prominence in 1928 with the advent of the genre's first star, Siti binti Saad.
According to local legend, taarab was started by Sultan Seyyid Barghash bin Said (1870-1888). He enjoyed luxury and the pleasures of life. It was this ruler who initiated taarab in Zanzibar and later it spread all over the African Great Lakes region. The sultan imported a taarab ensemble from Egypt to play in his Beit el-Ajab palace. He subsequently decided to send to Egypt Mohamed Ibrahim to learn music and he also learned to play the Kanun. Upon his return, he formed the Zanzibar Taarab Orchestra. In 1905, Zanzibar's second music society, Ikwhani Safaa Musical Club, was established and continues to thrive today.
Ikwhani Safaa and Culture Musical Club (founded in 1958) remain the leading Zanzibar taarab orchestras.
I'm trying to walk up the stairs
My hands are snatchin' at the slivers of light
I'm stickin' to the steps
Each one a release
From the place below
I'm on a mission
On the hunt for clean
Clear vapour skies
'Cos I'm choking on my own
I need some air
The dark skies behind me
Begging you to scrape off, your disco paint
It's open to the night
And I'm sick as a hospital
And empty factories
You look so tiny, so very unimportant
I'm nearly there, and everything feels fine
Don't wanna look behind me
Don't wanna look beneath me
Every movement
Every vibration
Every movement
Every vibration
High above piss city
Watch the pigs-ear people
All dead in their drows
Some suffer in silence
Someone sparks
Some gorge sucking on silicone
I've got the urge to jump
Watch life whizz by
Fast foward flash
But hold on boy
I feel... alive
Don't wanna look behind me
Don't wanna look beneath me
Every movement
Every vibration
Every movement
Every vibration
Don't wanna look behind me
Don't wanna look beneath me
Every movement
Every vibration
Every movement
Every vibration
Don't wanna look behind me
Don't wanna look beneath me
Every movement
Every vibration
Every movement