Tanzanian star Vanessa Mdee: I stumbled on law,music has always been my passion

By Crystal Okusa | 8yrs ago | 4 min read

Vee Money is the street name she goes by to consciously speak wealth into her life and associate her brand with top-notch quality. We might be just getting to know her here, but in her home town in Tanzania the 27-year-old beauty is referred to as Tanzanian’s prized gem and the epitome of what an East African celebrity is, in Zanzibar. She has risen fast in the Tanzanian music scene thanks to the exposure of winning for MTV Base VJ in 2007 – a first one for Tanzania.

“That is pretty much where it all began for me. I have been constantly growing from strength to strength ever since,” states the celebrity who not only has Kelly Rowland and Trey Songs following her on social media but even the President of the United States Barrack Obama is a fan.

Although now she is a full time musician now, Vanessa has had all the enviable jobs in entertainment. After being the MTV Base VJ and travelling around Africa hosting shows and interviewing local and international artistes from all genres, she went into radio hosting on Tanzania’s only English radio station, Choice FM.

This was followed by hosting TV shows Epic Bongo Star Search and Dume Challenge for ITV Tanzania among other popular shows. Even though she launched a music career in 2012, Vee became a full time artist in 2014 after encouragement from American rapper and producer David Banner, saw her first single Closer get over 30,000 downloads in its first week, another first for a Tanzanian artiste. The song also bagged her R & B song of the year at the 2014 Kilimanjaro Tanzanian Music Awards

While she studied law at the Catholic University in Kenya, her heart was always in music.

“Law school is what I stumbled on. I have always been musical and into arts for as long as I can remember. I do not make mixes or any other work on air anymore,” she affirms, calling her music “progressive bongo flava or pop.”

As she now sings, records and performs full-time, I had to pull her out of an 18-hour shooting schedule to get her to do the interview.

Born in Arusha, she seems to have had a steady growth in her career, from the outside looking in but Vanessa assures us that this did not come easy. She says she has been at it for a while, stating that there is no such thing as overnight success.

With an edgy fashion sense and enviable body, she comes across as a rare species of a Tanzanian artiste. She is well spoken and well-travelled, a feat, she thanks her diplomat parents:

“I was blessed to see the world at a young age. Growing up in New York, Paris, Nairobi, Arusha and now I reside in Dar es Salaam. All these places I have been to are inspiration hubs for me. I derive a lot of creativity and expression from these experiences,” she says.

Most of us got to know her from Coke Studio. However, Vanessa has been globetrotting for a while working with agencies to give back to her community. Hosting MTV Meets in 2012 saw her meet and interview heavy hitters like Russel Simmons, Alek Wek, former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, football star Emmanuel Adebayor and Akon.

She started blogging for the MTV Staying Alive where she worked with the then special Ambassador Kelly Rowland. She also worked for UNAIDS leading her to become a voice for MTV at 2011 UNAIDS Mali Youth Summit in Bamako in Cape Town South Africa. This was followed by a participation in the International Conference on HIV and STI’S in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia leading her to co-found STANDWIDTH under the UNAIDS umbrella.

Along with HIV, she has been an ambassador and a global campaigner against malaria, cervical cancer, for children vaccines and global shaper for the World Economic Forum. “At first, it was my own doing, I believe in serving the community by lending my voice where I can. Now I get approached by many organisations. States the youthful activist.

Although we have grown as a continent, Vanessa feels that Africans need to practice consistent hard work and evolution to be able to compete in the international market. A character she tried to adopt by always reinventing herself throughout her career.

She has been the face of various brands and most recently Samsung, she also started Vee World Wide to stay connected with artists – and interviewed quite a few American pop stars and stay abreast with her fans but both projects have since been halted to focus on her music full time.

The sultry songstress, who recently confessed she was not looking to get hitched any time soon due to the demand of her music career, has been rumoured to be dating Tanzanian’s R & B singer Jux.

Although not popular in Kenya, he is quite the hit in Tanzania for his sleek fashion sense and good looks.

Some say it was a publicity stunt but the photos on social media state otherwise, either way the songstress declined to comment on the matter.