RE: "Mtoto wa dandu" Cool James is Dead!! -
08-29-2002, 07:41 PM
THIS IS A HUGE LOSS. HAVE NO CONFIRMATION BUT I JUST RECIEVED THIS EMAIL.......RIP
Cool James killed in crash
Thursday, August 29, 2002
By Carren Cyprian
Singer James Dandu is dead. Dandu, popularly known as Cool James or Mtoto wa Dandu, died in a car crash on Tuesday night in Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam Regional Police Commander Alfred Tibaigana said yesterday that Dandu, 32, was killed when the car he was driving on Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road collided with another vehicle at Makumbusho at 11.30pm.
Both Dandu and the driver of the other car, Fred Lyamuya, died immediately in the crash in which three other people were seriously injured and admitted to the Muhimbili National Hospital.
He was driving to his Kijitonyama home, which is just a kilometre from the crash scene, when the accident occurred.
Family members said burial plans would be revealed after his mother, Mary Dandu, arrived from Sweden tomorrow.
Dandu lived abroad for about 15 years before returning home early last year. His first major undertaking in Tanzania was the organising of the Tanzania Music Awards held last March in Dar es Salaam.
Dandu was a founder-member of R&B group Swahili Nation in 1988, but his big break came in 1993 when he released Dr Feel Good which topped the Scandinavian charts for several weeks.
In 1995, he released Can We Do Some Little Jumping which proved a huge success in East Africa.
Last year, Dandu redid Les Wanyikas blockbuster hit Sina Makosa together with Sweden-based Congolese musicians Dekula Vumbi Kahanga and Bobo Sukari who were formerly based in Tanzania.
Dandu had just recorded his latest album and second video when he died. The album, which has yet to be released, features the numbers What Your Mama Gives You, Mamu, Come On Sweetie, Beautiful Lady, Mpenzi, Keep on Jumpin, Lukumu and Wake Up the Children of Africa.
The singer, who also owned the Dandu Planet USA label, was in the process of organising Tanzanias first hip-hop music awards at the time of his death.
He is survived by a widow, Devota, and two children, Caroline, 8, and Michael, 6.
Meanwhile, Dandus sudden death left local artistes shell-shocked yesterday.
Hip-hop singer Joseph Haule Professor J said Tanzania had lost an gifted and hard-working musician.
We have lost a truly talented artiste who owed his success to hard work, commitment and dedication. My heart goes out to his family at this difficult moment, he said on the telephone.
Another rap artiste, Hamisi Mwinjuma, popularly known as Mwanafalsafa, echoed Haules remarks, saying Dandu had left a huge gap on the local music scene.
Singers Gwamaka Kahilula GK and Ambwene Yessaya AY sent condolences to Dandus family and said the artistes death had robbed Tanzania of a remarkable person.
" That's my story and I am sticking to it"
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