Dar es Salaam to Amsterdam
In 1997 2-Proud launched his album Ndani ya Bongo on cassette tape making him the biggest star in Kiswahili-rap. In 1998 I invited Joseph Mbilinyi (2-Proud aka Mr II aka Sugu) to Amsterdam organising some sort of an "European tour". With the help of Thomas Gesthuizen he recorded a new album in an Amsterdam studio, John Gundlach and a good friend of him made a music video and I made daily telephone calls trying to get 2 Proud on stage in Amsterdam, on the radio and in newspapers, while he slept on my couch each night. I had succes with Hans Dulfer's radio show, a VPRO radio talk show, a journalist for the Dutch newspaoer Trouw wrote an article about 2 Proud, he shared a stage with the infamous Osdorp Posse at the Dread Rock Café, and he was billed as MC Too Proud at a Hip Hop Block Jam. Most of the photo's below were taken by unknown photographers.
After returning from Amsterdam his career took off. Joseph Mbilinyi kept on making rap albums and in 2010 he took office as a Member of Parliament for Chadema, a center-right political party in Tanzania running largely on an anti-corruption platform. His life is really an amazing success story.
