Cool James

James Dandu (5 July 1970 – 26 August 2002), also known by his stage name Cool James, was a Tanzanian–Swedish hip hop recording artist and record producer.

Cool James
Birth nameJames Dandu
Also known asMtoto wa Dandu, CJ Massive
Born(1970-07-05)5 July 1970
Mwanza, Tanzania
OriginStockholm, Sweden
Died26 August 2002(2002-08-26) (aged 32)
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active1988–2002

Born in Mwanza, Tanzania and having finished his primary studies at Kurasini Primary School in Tanzania, he moved with his mother and siblings to Stockholm, Sweden.

His professional musical career started in 1988, he released his first musical album in 1992, already a dance-oriented production. In 1993 he got together with another East African named Andrew Muturi to form the group "Swahili Nation".[1] After a while they let a brother of Andrew join the group, and after that yet another brother. James left and joined with a Congolese, Jose Masena and formed the band Cool James & Black Teacher. They released only two albums, the 1992 record Undercover Lover and the 1994 record Zooming You, which included the hit song "Dr. Feelgood".

A while after the Cool James and Black Teacher band, James moved back to Tanzania and started producing for East African artists as well as working on his own projects. He started the Tanzanian Music Awards in 1999.

Personal life

James had two kids, Caroline-Jamie, who he referred to as Malaika, born 1994, and Michael James Junior, born 1997. He mentioned his kids in nearly all his songs, as well as his fiancee, Devota.am for life.

On 26 August 2002 James Dandu died in a car accident in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

References

  1. "Cool J Music Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.