X PLASTAZ EARLY HISTORY  The group in 1995, Nelly (left), Gsan (middle) and Ziggy X Plastaz started out as a group in 1995 in Arusha, a town in Northern Tanzania between Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru and Nairobi (Kenya). Ziggy and Ruff teamed up with rapper OCG and solo emcee GSann, creating a stir in the emerging local hiphop scene. The brothers Ruff and Gsann were living like brothers with Ziggy, who originated from Tanga region. Due to their economical situation none of them had been able to pursue their studies and all were working in a haircutting saloon while rapping was a favorite passtime. Early influences In their early days they had been exposed to many different musical influences, including Swahili rap from Dar es Salaam, foreign hiphop from America, UK and France, rumba music from Congo, Tanzanian muziki wa dansi, Afro-Caribbean zouk, and traditional music from Tanzania's different peoples. Their decision to get into rap was informed by the need to educate the youth about the problems that affected their daily lives: urban life in a developing country like Tanzania presents many challenged including poverty, identity crises, or the Aids epidemic. Though the X Plastaz had not been able to study after secondary school, they were definitely streetwise, and like no other they managed to translate the daily lives of Tanzania's poor and destitute into raps. First recordings From their home base, the 'Geez camp' in Kijenge, Arusha they quickly captured the attention of all local music lovers. Their first recordings at the studio of Dar es Salaam's popular producer Bonnie Luv in 1996 put them on the map, but it was a live recording of the song 'Bamiza' (1998) which brought national fame. By that time, OCG had left the crew to study in Dar es Salaam. Bamiza took a number one position in Radio One's charts for several weeks on end. The following hit 'Wachaga piga chata' reinforced their position as upcountry's number one rap group. They gave their creativity a boost by looking into the rich culture of Arusha's different peoples, and when Yamat (Merege) joined the group, they started the unique merger of Maasai vocal music with hip hop. Continued: the X Plastaz and Maasai hip hop