The life of DJ Coconut

Turning the tide for women at the turntable

For decades, DJ booths have been dominated by men, their playlists shaping dance floors from New York to Nairobi. But the tides are shifting. Zanzibar’s very own DJ Coconut aka Zainab is part of that global wave of change.
 

Twilight hour in Fumba. Fisherman Ali of Nyamanzi has lit a fire under his traditional ngalawa boat to seal the wood against salt water and insects – an ancient method of preservation used by his forefathers for generations. He’s doing so in full sight of nightlife dwellers and shisha smokers who have just started to flock onto the sunset deck of the popular Kwetu Kwenu Chill open-air restaurant in Fumba. 

Ali remains undistracted even as a more unusual sight appears on the scene right next to him – a young Zanzibari woman in oversize jeans with a bass guitar around her neck and a self-confident pout, standing barefoot in muddy waters. 

Meet Zainab Msafira alias DJ Coconut aka DJ Zainaboo. The 26-year-old with a college diploma in food and beverage management ascended from a temporary waitress job at the popular restaurant to in-house DJ a year ago. She is on duty six days a week at differing occasions from Karaoke nights to jam sessions. And when a community fun run in Fumba Town, with hundreds of participants requires her attention at 7am in the morning, Zainab will be at the mic punctually.

Wanting to flourish

Wearing a simple pink cotton dress, looking feminine and self-assured, we meet Zainab later in the day strolling through the permaculture gardens of the new development at Zanzibar’s southern west coast. Like many people working here, she has rented a room for herself in the nearby village of Nyamanzi, coming to work by boda-boda. Her days start at 7am and her nights end at midnight, but Zainab misses no sleep: “I’m doing what I love, what I always wanted to do. I want to flourish. And I’m not even thinking about a boyfriend.”

“Although the island traditionally had some strong women musicians, it’s very unusual in Tanzania for a girl to do a DJ job”, explains Zainab who was brought-up in Kenya, the country where her mother comes from. Her parents live and work in Moshi. As soon as the first born of four siblings moved to Zanzibar, she started taking DJ lessons, and the owners of Kwetu Kwenu restaurant discovered and fostered her talents. To cope with cultural resistance, “I shut out everything and concentrated on my own thing”, she says. But her mum, a well-known teacher, and her dad, a local politician, don’t have to worry, it seems. There is life beyond DJ-ing, Zainab knows. “I love reading in my free time”, she says, “especially fiction and psychology books.” 

She also discovered her love for music in broader terms and started teaching herself bass guitar – the very guitar she was carrying on the beach in Fumba. “House music, R&B and electronic music”, are her favourites, “but also afrobeats and amapiano”, she says. And there are dreams: of an all-female Zanzibar band with Mayda, the violinist of Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA). Of piano lessons. Of travelling abroad to meet women in music there. 

Dancing to a new beat

DJ Coconut says her job can just so sustain her. Internationally, top DJs may earn staggering amounts. According to Forbes, superstar David Guetta from France rakes in upwards of $30 million a year endorsefrom ments and music sales. Russian DJ Nina Kraviz, one of the highest-paid women on the turntables, reportedly earns over $2 million annually. 

Last question, before Zainab has to go back to the deck. Why did she name herself DJ Coconut? “My friends did”, Zainab says laughing, “I’m the same, they say, hard from the outside but soft inside.” 

DJ Coconut can be seen and heard at Kwetu Kwetu Chill in Fumba Town, and Mangrooves Sound Beach Lounge in Michamvi.

Women under-represented in music

An international study documented in 2019 that only about 20 percent of DJs are women, a glaring disparity in a field where talent should actually know no gender.  

In Africa, the journey has been even more challenging but pioneers like South Africa’s DJ Zinhle and Kenya’s DJ Miss Ray and Coco-em have opened doors. In Zanzibar – a sternly traditional society – DJ Coconut aka Zainab (see main story) and her forerunner DJ Hijab, a Stone Town talent, have taken their passion public. 

The under-representation of women affects the entire music industry, platforms like “women in music.org” have documented. In Zanzibar’s traditional taarab music, women do play a major role, though. Binti Saad, born to freed slaves in 1880, shaped the face of taarab. Her great-granddaughter Sinti Muharam re-recorded her songs, a success in the UK in 2020. The unforgettable Bi Kidude passed away at 100 years old in 2013 and performed up to her last months in Stone Town.