Rapper mulla explores the bongo flava music genre

For Fredrick ‘Mulla’ Komba - an up-and-coming rap beast who recently released album titled ‘Moro Jazz’ - his love for rap music originates from his relatives, some of whom are religious choir singers.
“I come from a family of a Christian choir singers, and music is not only what connects us; we are quite familiar with music. My mother - God bless her - nurtured my love for music and, despite listening to Christian choir music, she had stacks of cassettes of RnB music stacked in our home,” he recalls.
“As days went by, my interest continued to evolve, and the need to explore music more than what I already knew grew,” explains Fredrick.
By the time he had reached the third grade in primary school, Fredrick had developed the habit of claim song lyrics as soon as they were released - spending much time listening to songs on the radio to be updated on them.
“I would many times copy songs in my school exercise books and trick my class mates into thinking that the songs were of my own creation. It was easy to make them believe that they were all mine because most of my school mates were not particularly keen on radio broadcasts,” he says.
Fredrick’s music journey started to officially bloom when he started creating his own songs - and, by the time he was a form three student in secondary school, his dream of becoming an artiste and a song writer was steadily becoming real.

Before he released ‘Moro Jazz,’ Fredrick had doubts on how his fans would classify his songs due to his long habit of rapping.
“Naturally, I get worried when I’m constructing a project. So, when I was composing Moro Jazz, I was worried about how people would receive it as my work. The worry was about the result of my intentions, as I wanted my fans to see the composition in a different light from my usual works. After all, they had become used to Fredrick as an artist who only rapped while, in Moro Jazz, I was singing and rapping at the same time,” he says.
“However - and if truth be told - the album was received positively. In fact, if there were ‘Music Award’ programmes in Tanzania, I would have been awarded for producing the ‘Best Album of the Year in Tanzania.’ Indeed, besides fans giving the album a thumbs up approval, almost every hip hop legend in the country has complimented me for the album in ways more than one,” Fredrick pontificates.
Before he released Moro Jazz - which had taken him a year to make - Fredrick had doubts on how his fans would understand him or the album, basically because he had become known for rapping.
The 12-song Moro Jazz album includes features that were commended by Brian Simba, Bedam Andrew, Kay Zaddy and Shentente. Fredrick reveals that the album was named ‘Moro Jazz’ after he had considered several names.
“I named the album ‘Moro Jazz’ because Morogoro is my home place - and is known for the jazz and soul music by the people residing in the region. There also was a Moro Jazz band based in Morogoro,” he says.
“When you closely listen to my album, it is easy to notice that almost all the songs have those two features as samples that acted as pillars of the album,” Fredrick explains.
His album was released in two forms: a hard copy, and soft copy. However, Fredrick says that most music lovers who understand and vibe to quality music - like music in the form of hard copy, due to the history behind the copies.
“In addition to all the 12 songs in Moro Jazz being hits, I also have two favourite songs that have been proclaimed as the best in the album. One is titled ‘Dear Lord;’ the other is ‘My ex’. I think they are the most loved songs in the album because many people identify themselves with them,” he says.
Fredrick sees music as his world because, growing up, he was a fan of many hits. That was largely why he later on decided to immerse himself in the industry!
“I did not start my career as a rapper because I used to be a singer. I was curious about the rap genre, and wanted to explore it myself. In due course, this made me switch from being a singer to a rapper - which is what I am today,” he says.
“I come from a family of a Christian choir singers, and music is not only what connects us; we are familiar with it. My mother nurtured my love for music. But, despite listening to Christian choir songs, she also had cassettes of RnB music stacked in our home. As days went by, my interest started evolving, and the need to explore music more than what I had heard grew,” Fredrick reiterates for good measure.
In 2014, Fredrick decided to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at the Tumaini University Makumira which is situated in Arusha Region.
After he chose to take up music, the only major challenge to that was when his mother vehemently opposed his choice, saying she did not see music as a suitable career for her son.
“I recall during the late Mangwair’s funeral, most music artists came to bid his body farewell in Morogoro Region.
“When my mother saw the mourners, she right away texted me on my hand-phone, and expressed how it would be a waste of an opportunity for me to become a musician. It took me a while to get her to understand how valuable a music career was to me,” explains Fredrick ‘Mulla’ Komba.