Music
Distinguished
Saida Karoli
born 1976
Sang in Haya from a Kagera village and became one of East Africa's biggest voices
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the Tanzania Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A banana farmer's daughter from Kagera who sang in Haya rather than Swahili and sold out halls from Dar es Salaam to Kampala and Nairobi. Maria Salome made her a household name across the Great Lakes.
Saida Karoli grew up in a village in Kagera in north-western Tanzania and was singing at weddings on a locally made drum when a producer heard her.
Her records — Maria Salome above all — went across Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya in the early 2000s, carried on a voice and a rhythm that owed nothing to the Congolese and Swahili pop dominating the airwaves. She sang in Haya, her own language, and was one of the very few East African stars of the period to do so and still fill halls in three countries.
Her records — Maria Salome above all — went across Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya in the early 2000s, carried on a voice and a rhythm that owed nothing to the Congolese and Swahili pop dominating the airwaves. She sang in Haya, her own language, and was one of the very few East African stars of the period to do so and still fill halls in three countries.
- Wikipedia — Saida Karoli
- The Citizen — Saida Karoli: the rise, fall and return of a Tanzanian music icon
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