Reviews

While the Tanzanian film industry has offered different portrayals of Tanzanian womanhood over the years, there is still a general lack of curiosity about contemporary stories. What it currently means to be a woman in Dar, the expectations (those you have of yourself and those put upon you), and the way they shape our lives has barely been explored. And often the exploration has not been told with the specificity that would make audiences feel like their stories have been pulled from memory, before being stretched out on the big screen.

The genre of romance is one of the most enduring in the literary world. It’s conventions-that date back to its conception are just as old. A few books down any list will illuminate the formula: meet-cute, bubbling tension that’s often accompanied by some sort of denial, acceptance, conflict, and finally reconciliation. Sometimes bits are rearranged and adjusted to fit the author’s choices, but most of it is left intact. As old as genre, is its singular representation of the type of person who gets to go through this rollercoaster of love and desire- from which the world has only recently awoken. “…this should be obvious,” Sareeta Domingo writes, “but-human beings of all kinds fall in love, and have desire and heartache, and heartbreak.”

Rema arrived on the scene by way of a self-titled EP released in March 2019, and by the end of that year the Mavin Records signee was being heralded as leading a new generation of afrobeats artists. Since this acclaim the young artist has received even more praise with even heftier bangers like Woman, enjoyed collaborations with heavy hitters like Tiwa Savage (as well as been teased to collaborate with the likes of Lil Nas X and Drake), all while amassing a global fanbase. The road leading to his debut album has been paved with so much promise that to declare it much anticipated might be an understatement.