Tanzanian hip hop star CPwaa is dead
By Keshi NdiranguAward-winning Tanzanian rapper Ilunga Khalifa popularly known as CPwaa is dead.
CPwaa succumbed to acute pneumonia on Sunday while receiving treatment at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam.
The rapper had been admitted to hospital for four days before he lost the battle to the ailment.
“We are waiting for the body to be ferried from the hospital. He had been ailing for two weeks. He then came to live with his mother but was overwhelmed on Wednesday. We rushed him to Muhimbili and was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),” CPwaa’s younger brother Murad Omar Khamis told the local media.
Famed for his Aisha hit song and dubbed by some as Tanzania’s king of crunk, CPwaa was laid to rest the same day at Mwinyimkuu cemetery in Magomeni, Dar es Salaam in accordance with Islamic traditions.
The rapper has worked with Tanzanian and international trendsetters including Park Lane associate Suma Lee, Swahili dancehall star Dully Sykes, the late Ngwair and Jamaica’s Ms Triniti.
He released a 15-track album in 2013 dubbed ‘The Album’ and is considered the pioneer of American hip hop influence on Tanzanian music.