The Tanzania Times
East, Central and Southern African Times News Network

Marijani Rajabu: The Man, the Music and the Legend

Tanzaniaโ€™s renowned singer, Marijani Rajabu died around this time 30 years ago.

He is among the many musicians in East Africa who passed on at very tender ages.

Marijani Shaaban Rajabu, born on March 3, 1955, in the Kariakoo District of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was a prominent Tanzanian musician specializing in what can be described as East African country music.

His music, like many Tanzanian tunes of the 60s, 70s and 80s were in a genre which was stuck between Rhumba, Salsa and Cavacha with a sprinkle of coastal taarab but slightly laid back and capitalizing on rich lyrics.

Marijani Rajabuโ€™s musical journey began in 1970 when, at the age of 15, he joined the ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—– ๐—๐—”๐—ญ๐—ญ under the mentorship of the famous guitarist ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ.

Young Marijani Rajabu. He was born in March and Died in March

During his time with STC Jazz, Marijani expanded his horizons by traveling to Nairobi, in the neighbouring country of Kenya and recording songs under the ๐™‹๐™๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™จ ๐™๐™š๐™˜๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™จ. The company would later be known as โ€˜Polygram!โ€™

However, conflicts within the band led to his departure, and in 1972, he joined ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ founded and led by ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐— ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฎ.

Under Marijani’s influence, The Trippers evolved into ๐™Ž๐™–๐™›๐™–๐™ง๐™ž ๐™๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ, becoming one of the prominent bands of the era, with Rajabuโ€™s infectious voice dominating the groupโ€™s products.

At that time, Marijani also played football.

Marijani’s prowess as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist flourished with Safari Trippers, producing hit songs like ๐‘น๐’๐’”๐’‚ ๐‘ต๐’†๐’๐’…๐’‚ ๐‘บ๐’‰๐’–๐’๐’† and ๐‘ฎ๐’†๐’๐’“๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’‚ each selling over 10,000 copies.

Unfortunately, internal disagreements eventually led to the disbandment of Safari Trippers.

Though of course it was also suspected that, one Abel Balthazar a popular rhythm guitarist from Juwata Jazz Band, poached the entire line-up from Safari Trippers to form the new band, Dar-es-Salaam International.

In 1976, Marijani, along with some former Trippers, joined ๐˜ฟ๐™–๐™ง ๐™š๐™จ ๐™Ž๐™–๐™ก๐™–๐™–๐™ข ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™–โ€‹l under the ownership of ๐— ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ญ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ก๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜†๐—ฒ.

The band thrived, but clashes between Marijani and the group leader Abel Balthazar, resulted in Marijani’s expulsion.

However, when Abel Balthazar again left with a number of musicians to go and form Mlimani Park Orchestra, the management of Dar International resorted to drafting back Marijani.

Despite this setback, Marijani returned to Dar es Salaam International in 1978, bringing in new talents and adopting the Super Bomboka style. The band was managed by Ismail Issa Michuzi.

Super Bomboka days

Marijani led the music department and showcased his displeasure withย his nemesis, ๐—”๐—ฏ๐—ฒl Balthazar,ย through a satirical song,ย ๐‘ฒ๐’Š๐’…๐’–๐’…๐’–ย ๐‘ด๐’•๐’–.

Dar International went on to produce a string of fire hits, including Zuwena, Mwanameka, Siwema, Uke Wenza, Usia wa Baba, Ponda Mali and Sikitiko as well as many evergreen hits.

Rajabu liked to compare himself with Tabuley Rochereau and many of his songs bore the musical influence of Afrisa International.

But unlike Tabuley, Marijani Rajabu hated the limelight and avoided photographs at all costs.

In 1987, Dar International disbanded due to various reasons, including equipment deterioration.

Marijani continued his musical journey with brief stints in ๐™†๐™ช๐™ง๐™ช๐™œ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฏ๐™ž Band of ๐˜ผ๐™ง๐™ช๐™จ๐™๐™– as well as ๐™ˆ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™š ๐™…๐™–๐™ฏ๐™ฏ.

Mahepe ngoma ya wajanja

In 1988, he co-led ๐™๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฏ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™– ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™ก ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™จ, a group of over 50 musicians, creating special songs for the 10th anniversary of ๐‚๐‚๐Œ and the 20th anniversary of the Arusha Declaration.

In 1994, Marijani recorded songs with the late ๐—˜๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ด๐˜†.

His final band was the ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™š ๐™‰๐™œ๐™ค๐™ข๐™– ๐™”๐™– ๐™’๐™–๐™Ÿ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™Ÿ๐™–, owned by the music promoter ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ.

After that he retired from Music and turned to agriculture. In 1994 he is reported to have penned a total of 460 songs.

Marijani Rajabu died on 23สณแตˆ March 1995.

Marijani Rajabu’s legacy lives on through his instructive and melodious songs, honouring his Kigoma roots.

Known as โ€˜Bulldozer,โ€™ or simply โ€˜Doza,โ€™ he remains a cherished figure among music enthusiasts in Tanzania and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the African music scene.

His son, Rajabu Marijani also joined the music industry but as a producer.

Marijani junior is behind the 2003 fire hits like ‘Mi Maasai,’ by Mr Ebbo and ‘Siwema,’ by Lady Jaydee (a cover version of Dar International Hits of 1983)