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
For four decades the leading voice in taarab, the Swahili coast's own classical music, and the singer whose recordings carried it from Zanzibar weddings to the whole of East Africa.
Khadija Omar Kopa began singing taarab as a teenager and rose through the great Zanzibar and Tanga orchestras to become the form's dominant voice.
Taarab is sung poetry — Arabic, Indian and Swahili strands wound together, performed at weddings, where the lyrics carry messages between women that would be unsayable in plain speech. Kopa's command of that art, and a career of recordings spanning four decades, made her the most recognised taarab singer alive and earned her the title Malkia wa Taarab, queen of taarab. Her daughter Zuchu is among the biggest names in contemporary Tanzanian pop.
Taarab is sung poetry — Arabic, Indian and Swahili strands wound together, performed at weddings, where the lyrics carry messages between women that would be unsayable in plain speech. Kopa's command of that art, and a career of recordings spanning four decades, made her the most recognised taarab singer alive and earned her the title Malkia wa Taarab, queen of taarab. Her daughter Zuchu is among the biggest names in contemporary Tanzanian pop.
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