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X Plastaz is a hip hop group from Arusha, Tanzania, consisting of six members; the brothers Nelly (aka Ruff-Nell), Gsan, and Ziggy, Maasai singer Yamat Ole Meipuko, and two teenage siblings of the brothers. The group was formed in 1996 and has had the aforementioned line-up since 2001.
The X-Plastaz is one of the most successful groups out of Tanzania, with a unique twist—they have a traditional Maasai singer wearing traditional Maasai clothing. They focus their sound and style on the Maasai tradition, which is a new path for Bongo Flava. Their
One of their more famous songs, Aha!, is about life in a traditional Maasai village, and the music video of this song was the first Tanzanian hip hop video to show traditional village life and the customs of the Maasai people. The song's rap is in Swahili and Haya, while the chorus is actually a traditional Maasai chant. citation needed
In their musical and stylistic embrace of both traditional Maasai culture and American hip hop, the X Plastaz are a prime example of the issues that arise when hip hop, an originally black American musical form, travels around the world to different locals. The X Plastaz must make conscious decisions, as artists, about how to navigate what could be seen as an imperialist or colonial musical form, and how to incorporate their own cultures into that. As Sidney Lemelle writes, post-colonial African nations such as Tanzania, must deal with the realities of post-colonialism and economies that may still largely be dependent on colonial aid, while at the same time struggling against those very powers
. "Developing a nation-state and a 'national' culture became a major imperative" for the post-colonial Tanzanian government[
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