Ramazani "Remmy" Mtoro Ongala (1947 10 Feb – 13 December 2010) was a Tanzanian guitarist and singer.
Ongala was born in Kindu near the Tanzanian border, in what was the Belgian Congo at the time, and now is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Remmy Ongala travelled to Dar es Salaam where he joined Orchestra Makassy in 1978, and later broke off to form
his own band Orchestre Super Matimila (named after the businessman who owned the band's instruments).
Ongala's tune are reminiscent of T.P.O.K Jazz but he sang predominatly in Swahili in a style he called 'Ubongo', the
Swahili word for brain. He mostly sang about social topics like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Corruption, urbanisation and
unity and fidelity between a man and his wife. This led his fans to nick-name him Sauti ya Mynoge (voice of the poor man).
Some of his major Hits are Mariam Wangu :
Sauti Ya Mnyonge ( The Poor Man's Voice) :
Siku Ya Kufa ( The day of one's Death ) :
Karola :
Asili Ya Muziki ( The Origin of Music) :
Remmy Ongala exported his music abroad and for a period was based in Sweden, and he toured prominently in Europe.
Even as he toured, his message was still on topical issues, translating his songs to English for the European audience :
He is regarded as one of Tanzania's greatest composers/singers.
