In The Congo – Rhyme Like A Girl Feat Nasambu (produced by Zavara)
In The Congo is a track produced by Zavara who also directed the video. The track features notable Rap activist Toni Blackman and her group Rhyme Like A Girl featuring Afrosoul singer Nasambu from L.A. Please distribute it around your network. The video is already selected to be screened at film festival in Malaysia next month. the official release is on 30 of this month.
“In the Congo”, is the first major musical collaborative effort of its kind to raise awareness on what some are calling the third World War. Calling for a new wave of Green Technology and Fair Trade Electronics, this music video highlights the main cause of rape and genocide in the Eastern Congo region as a desperate scramble for the minerals that power every cell phone and laptop.
Produced and directed by Tanzanian Hip Hop guru, Zavara Mponjika, the video features New York based female Hip Hop group, Rhyme Like a Girl, alongside California based Kenyan Afro-Soul artist and founder of Activate Afrika, Nasambu. In times when the mainstream media rarely highlights issues of consequence, leaving many people in a state of ignorance, these artists have joined together across time, space, and geographical borders to express their views on this global war and human rights catastrophe that is urgently awaiting a timely large scale response
to bring stability to this mineral rich land in the heart of Africa.
Zavara is a filmmaker (Music Videos/TV Ads/Shorts) and respected Tanzanian Hip-hop pioneer (The founder of Pioneer Hip Hop crew KwanzaUnit, the group credited with shaping BongoFlava, the popular East African genre and it’s founding movement Bongo Hip Hop).
Both a skilled music producer and event producer: Founder and pioneer of the WAPI monthly festival Series in Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar. Facilitated and launched the WAPI Lagos and WAPI Kampala. The successfully produced Channel O¹s Sprite Emcee Battle in Dar Es Salaam, Collaborated with the British Arts Council, UNICEF, Red Cross, Alliance Francaise, Goethe Institute and served as a consultant for Sauti za Busara, Toronto Film Festival, collaborated in Somali Sunrise Tour: Guns Not Drums featuring K¹NAAN and hip-hop artists like Shaggy, Dead Prez, and others.
He toured and shot the documentary for Diblo Dibala, legendary Congolese guitarist and founder of Soukous music. Filmed performance for Mbilia Bell in Toronto Canada, Zavara is currently working with Valerie Simpson of the legendary Ashford & Simpson and recently shot a live performance R&B superstar Freddie Jackson, videotaped and interviewed the superstar Michael Bolton’s performance in New York’s Sugar bar.
He is also directing, ³360: The Cipher², a documentary on Toni Blackman¹s incredible work focusing on the collective energy of freestyle rap and spoken word. He also works as her road manager and assists as a stage manager for Rhyme like a Girl.
