Double Focus – A new music and poetry CD. - Ras Nas aka Nasibu Mwanukuzi. Musician and poet from Tanzania

The award winning Ras Nas aka Nasibu Mwanukuzi is a musician and poet from Tanzania living in Oslo, Norway. Ras Nas repertoire is a mixture of reggae and soukous (or rather, muziki wa dansi) with lyrics in both Kiswahili and English. The music is self composed as well as self arranged. Ras Nas’ line-up of musicians seasoned and international. Currently, his band comprises of musicians from Norway, Sweden, Ivory Coast, Congo Brazzaville and USA.

Among his merits is performing for Nelson Mandela and sharing the stage with musical heavyweights such as Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan as well as reggae legends like Linton Kwesi Johnson, I Jah Man and Eek a Mouse, to name but a few. Ras Nas has so far produced three critically acclaimed albums: Cut You Loose (1997), Dar-es-Salaam (2007) and Double Focus (2010). In 2010 he was awarded the Tanzania Red Carpet Award for best solo artist.

Ras Nas has participated in many prestigious festivals and has also toured extensively in Scandinavia. Among the festivals are the Spring Festival 2010 in Cairo and Beirut (Egypt and Lebanon), Norwegian Wood, Oslo World Music Festival, Lahore Performing Arts and Music Festival (Pakistan), Galle International Music Festival (Sri Lanka) and Oslo Mela Festival.

In addition to producing CDs, Ras Nas has also published a collection of poetry “Double Focus” and some of his tracks have appeared in international compilations. One of his poems “Mandela” is used in an educational DVD for High School students in USA and several others have been published in anthologies and magazines around the world.

The song Dar-es-Salaam is also the title track of Ras Nas' latest CD. This video was shot in Dar-es-Salaam and produced by Haak Neel Production for Kongoi Productions.

Dar-es-Salaam live in Oslo feat. Dekula "Vumbi" Kahanga

Guantanamo live video taken from Ras Nas' concert at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in Oslo. The song is also featured in Ras Nas' CD "Dar-es-Salaam"

Double Focus – A new music and poetry CD.

Double Focus CD music and poetry by Ras Nas

The long awaited CD “Double Focus” by the Tanzanian poet and musician Ras Nas aka Nasibu Mwanukuzi is set for release in Oslo, Norway, in November this year. The CD contains music and spoken word. Recorded at Urban Sound studio in Oslo by the legendary recording engineer Jock Loveband, “Double Focus” brings together musicians from Mali, South Africa, Norway, Bangladesh and Brazil. The poems are based on an anthology of poetry by Nasibu published by Kongoi Productions in 1989.

Double Focus is a continuation of the ancient African oral tradition of storytelling through poetry but taken a step further. The ngoni, an ancient African stringed instrument played by Sidiki Camara from Mali, creates a mellow and dream-like mood on two of the tracks. The African marimba by Zwai Mbula from South Africa provides a strong warm groove on some other tracks, while the strange and inventive sax of Rolf-Erik Nystrøm from Norway gives Double Focus a truly original energy. The Amazon Ensemble from Brazil and the singer Kohinoor from Bangladesh have also taken part making “Double Focus” a rare universal product that is worth having by any music and poetry lover.

Nasibu started reciting poetry with Sayari, a group that combined poetry, mime, music and dance in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in early 80’s. Among the highlights was reciting one of his poems “June 16 – Memories of Soweto” for Nelson Mandela in Oslo in 1992. – “After the performance Mr. Mandela personally encouraged me to continue to write and recite poetry. That was one of the greatest moments in my life”, says Nasibu who has also produced two albums under his artist name Ras Nas. The albums, both of which have been highly acclaimed by music critics are “Cut You Loose” and “Dar-es-Salaam”. The two CD’s contain a mix of reggae and soukous with lyrics in both Kiswahili and English, a hallmark of Ras Nas.

Nasibu’s biggest influence came from the poets Kwesi Brew, Keorapetse William Kgositsile and Langston Hughes, all three masters in the art of creating paintings in the form of words. Nasibu Mwanukuzi, also incidentally a painter in the traditional sense, speaks with a raw and honest voice about issues of the heart, injustice, and life.

These powerful themes combined with inspired performances from both Nasibu and his musicians are what make this an exceptional and original album. “Double Focus” will soon be available at CD Baby, Itunes and Amazon, among other music outlets.

Follow Ras Nas at www.twitter.com/rasnas

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