Biography
Born Fatuma Bintibaraka, Bi Kidude received the designation “Grand old lady of Taarab” for the deep impact she exerted on the music and culture of Zanzibar. Performing in Arabic and Swahili, she helped shape the growth of taarab, a style that began in Egypt and is customarily supported by fiddles, flutes, drums, and rattles. She also served as an example through her refusal to accept conventional expectations placed on women in her society. After initially following the Islamic tradition of remaining fully veiled in public, she departed from that practice by lifting her veil so that listeners could see her face.
Raised in the small village of Mfagimarigo as one of seven children of a coconut seller, she acquired songs from the local performer Siti Bintisaad and began to sing with other women at initiation ceremonies. As the only female participant in a musical ensemble, she traveled throughout Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania.
In the 1980s she joined the Shikamoo Jazz Band, a Tanzanian group directed by Salum Kahoro, once the guitarist for Kiko Kid, on a tour of the U.K. She made her first album, Zanzibar, with the Zanzibar-based ensemble The Twinkling Stars, whose personnel comprised Mohamed Ilyas on violin and accordion, Ali Salim on kanun, Seif Salim on violin, oud, and rey, and Juna Ame on percussion.
She supplemented the income earned from singing by preparing wanja, a black cosmetic used to create designs on the arms and legs of young women.
Raised in the small village of Mfagimarigo as one of seven children of a coconut seller, she acquired songs from the local performer Siti Bintisaad and began to sing with other women at initiation ceremonies. As the only female participant in a musical ensemble, she traveled throughout Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania.
In the 1980s she joined the Shikamoo Jazz Band, a Tanzanian group directed by Salum Kahoro, once the guitarist for Kiko Kid, on a tour of the U.K. She made her first album, Zanzibar, with the Zanzibar-based ensemble The Twinkling Stars, whose personnel comprised Mohamed Ilyas on violin and accordion, Ali Salim on kanun, Seif Salim on violin, oud, and rey, and Juna Ame on percussion.
She supplemented the income earned from singing by preparing wanja, a black cosmetic used to create designs on the arms and legs of young women.
Albums
