Background
Born in the village of Mfagimaringo, Bi Kidude was the daughter of a coconut seller in colonial Zanzibar.
Born in the village of Mfagimaringo, Bi Kidude was the daughter of a coconut seller in colonial Zanzibar.
She has been called the "queen of Taarab and Unyago music" and was inspired by Siti binti Saad. Bi Kidude"s exact date of birth is unknown and much of her life story is uncorroborated, giving her an almost mythical status. As a child, she was singled out for her fine voice and, in the 1920s, sang locally with popular cultural troupes, combining an understanding of music with an equally important initiation into traditional medicine.
At age 13, after a forced marriage, she fled Zanzibar to mainland Tanzania.
Bi Kidude toured mainland East Africa with a taarab ensemble, visiting the major coastal towns and inland as far west as Lake Victoria and Tanganyika. She walked the length and the breadth of the country barefoot in the early 1930s, fleeing another unhappy marriage.
In the 1930s, she ended up in Dar es Salaam, where she sang with Egyptian Taarab groups for many years. In the 1940s, she returned to Zanzibar, where she acquired a small mud hut to be her home.
She is known for her role in the Unyago movement which prepares young Swahili women for their transition through puberty.
Much of her early life is uncorroborated as there is no published book or work documenting her life, apart from the video documentary "As old as my Tongue - The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude" by director Andy Jones. Some musical experts have called upon the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to come up with a full Biography of this icon. Her fame has been widely acknowledged throughout the local Zanzibari and Zazibari tourism community, with the luxury hotel on the island, "236 Hurumzi", naming their restaurant "Kidude" in her honour.
She was often found residing within the lobby of this hotel in Stonetown.
Honours 2005 WOMEX award Nominations.