Malika, also known as Asha Abdo, is described by the label as the most popular female musician on the coast of East Africa, and this CD presents her as a singer of tarabu, the sung music of the Swahili world. Tarabu reflects a society formed over more than a thousand years, since Arab, Indian and Persian traders first reached the coast and mixed with its native population. Ten songs, almost an hour of music, give a full portrait of the style.

Malika sings lead throughout. Her band, as credited by Schott, is a compact one: Anasi Sheembwana Muhaji and Omar Saleh Al-Abdi on dharabouka and voices, Bakari Salim Wamasha on organ and Lali Mwalimu Mzamin on bass guitar. The album was made with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, the partner of Wergo's world music series. The subtitle locates the music among the Swahili of Kenya.

The Arab element is audible first in the melodic and tonal system, whose smallest step is a quarter tone. The rhythms and the texts are rooted in older Swahili traditions, yet tarabu has long absorbed melodies and rhythms from Spain, from India and Pakistan and from Latin America. The organ and electric bass give the songs a modern band sound, while the hand drums carry the dance pulse. The lyrics are moral and personal. Sibure Mambo (It Is Not in Vain) and Mja We Zingatiya (Think About It, Man) are reflections, Salawatu Rabi is sung in honour of God, and the closing Mpenzi Wanisumbuwa (Darling, You Trouble Me), at eight minutes the longest track, is a love song. Poleni, Ndugu Wa Faza is addressed to the brothers and sisters of Faza.

Tarabu is the coastal music where the Indian Ocean trade can still be heard as sound: Arabic intervals, borrowed melodies and Swahili rhythm sharing one band. Malika's songs show it as a living popular form rather than a heritage piece.

A CD in Wergo's Music of World Cultures series with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, catalogue SM 1520 2, titled Tarabu: Music from the Swahili of Kenia.