Bi Kidude

Fatuma binti Baraka ( – 17 April 2013), popularly known as Bi Kidude, was a Tanzanian taarab singer from Zanzibar. She has been called the "queen of taarab and Unyago music" and was inspired by earlier taarab singer Siti binti Saad.

For her contribution to world music and culture in Zanzibar, she received the 2005 WOMEX award and the Medal for Arts and Sports of Tanzania.

Life and career Born in the village of Kitumba in the modern-day Kati District of Unguja South Region and raised in the village of Mfagimaringo, Bi Kidude was the daughter of a coconut seller in colonial Zanzibar. Her exact date of birth is unknown and much of her life story is uncorroborated, but she is believed to have been the oldest touring singer in the world during her final active years.

Bi Kidude was married and divorced twice. Having no children of her own, she took part in traditional Unyago coming-of-age ceremonies, where teenage girls receive social and sexual education. She became known by her nickname Bi Kidude (Swahili for "little grandmother"), because of her petite stature and as a polite form of addressing an older woman. In the course of her eventful life, she was active as a healer and knowledgeable about medicinal plants, a henna artist and, of course, a musician.

Bi Kidude started singing when she was ten, and after having been forced into marriage at thirteen, she escaped to mainland Tanganyika. There, she became a singer in various taarab groups in Dar es Salaam and other coastal cities. In the 1940s, she returned to Zanzibar and settled in the Shangani neighbourhood of Zanzibar's capital. She immersed herself in the styles of female-led taarab, whose outspoken lyrics metaphorically criticise men for their sexist behaviour. Gradually, she became a local celebrity but remained relatively unknown outside of Zanzibar for a long time.

In the 1980s, she became nationally recognised through an appearance on television. With her rebellious behaviour, smoking in public and her refusal to observe the separation of men and women in society, she disregarded conservative social attitudes, which was described by many as "haram". In 2011 she was nominated for the Tanzania Music Awards, and the following year, she was honoured with the Medal for Arts and Sports of Tanzania. Further, she was the subject of two documentaries by British filmmaker Andrew Jones, titled As Old As My Tongue – The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude and I shot Bi Kidude. In 2023, the BBC aired the podcast Bi Kidude: Zanzibar's 'golden grandmother of music'.

Today's singeli musicians in Tanzania are taking inspiration from Bi Kidude's music, using pitched-up loops and Unyago'' rhythms, and breaking the rules, similar to Kidude herself.