BIOGRAPHY- THE INSPIRING STORY OF VANESSA MDEE

            WHO IS VANESSA MDEE?

Vanessa Hau Mdee who is popularly known as Vanessa Mdee is a Tanzanian female music artist, songwriter, singer, Television personality, youth activist and Radio presenter. She is also known as Vee Money.  

Vanessa Mdee was born on 7^th June 1988 in Arusha which is found in Northern part of Tanzania.  Vanessa Mdee grew up in different parts of the world and therefore became familiar with different cultures in cities like New York, Paris, Nairobi and Arusha.  

Vanessa Mdee went to Arusha Modern High School where she obtained her secondary school education. After completing her secondary school education, Vanessa Mdee joined Catholic University of East Africa where she pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Law.  

During her time at University, Vanessa Mdee became very familiar with the different forms of creative and performing arts. She became popular as a result of being the first ever Tanzanian MTV Video Jocker (MTV VJ). 

She then became famous as a radio and television host where she was hosting a popular show called Epic Bongo star search and Dume challenge for a television station called ITV Tanzania.  After that challenge, Vanessa Mdee was signed to B’Hits Music Group and this was towards the end of 2012.

 When joined the B’Hits Music Group, Vanessa Mdee worked on a collaboration with Tanzanian Rapper called A.Y in a song called Money and Ommy Dimpoz, a Bongo Flava artist with whom they worked on another song called Me and You. 

The song was then voted as the best song of the year during the Kilimanjaro Music Awards that was held in 2013.

 Vanessa Mdee later worked on her first single called closer which became very popular and was liked by very many music fans and the song brought Vanessa Mdee into the limelight. The song was downloaded 30,000 times in the first week of its release and that was a record that no other Tanzanian music artist had ever achieved before. The song remained on top music charts for about 13 weeks. 

Vanessa Mdee has held interviews with very many international and African music artists and among these are the likes of RickRoss, K’NaaN, Ludacris, Trey Songs, Mac Miller, Miguel, Donald, Nazizi, Stella Mwangi, and Dr. Sid and many others.  

She released three singles in 2015 and 2016; these are Nobody but Me, Never Ever, and Nironge which were also liked by her fans.

 In 2007, Vanessa Mdee went for auditions for the MTV VJ search in Dar-el-salaam and she became an MTV VJ. After that she joined Tanzanian hosts Carol and Kule to help in the hosting of the Cocacola Chart Express.  

In 2008, Vanessa Mdee had already established herself in Tanzania and around African continent. 

She has been hosting shows in different parts of Africa like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Angola, and Uganda. She even became very popular in Brazil and the United States. 

 In the year 2008, Vanessa Mdee worked with American music artist KellyRowland on a project that was being run by Staying Alive Foundation, a project that was close to her heart. 

Vanessa Mdee also worked on the Zinduka Campaign which was a Malaria No more campaign.

 In 2009, Vanessa Mdee became the host of Senses, Sounds and Wisdom with Zantel and this was at the Sauti Zabusara International Music Festival show casing the ever growing Swahili culture. 

Vanessa Mdee is a very fashionable woman and therefore she is able to get gigs like hosting the MTV Africa Music Awards and she has been hosting the red carpet event for about 3 years now. 

In 2011 Vanessa Mdee started working as a radio host at choice FM and hosted a program called the Hitlist and during the show, Vanessa Mdee played hit songs like R&B, Hip-HOP and pop music. 

During the show she has interviewed very many music artists like RickRoss, Nazizi, K’NaaN, KellyRowland, MacMiller, and RickRoss, Ludacris, Stella Mwangi and many other music artists. 

She also started hosting a pan African  television show on  MTV Base’s select 10 and this show aired weekly and on top of that she also was blogging on her Dynamites Mission Website as  reporter for the Staying Alive Foundation and UNAIDS. 

In 2012 Vanessa Mdee became the host of MTV Base’s show called MTV Base Meets, a show that was started in order to give a chance to young Africans around the world so that they can sit down with an influential leader. 

As a result of the show, Vanessa Mdee was able to meet Russel Simmons, Alek Wek, former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, football star Emmanuel Adebayor, and Akon. 

In 2013, Vanessa Mdee was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum about the Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) vaccines whose prices had become a record low. Vanessa Mdee then spoke about Cervical cancer at the Global Forum for the prevention of Cervical cancer in  Kuala Lumpur found in Malaysia on behalf of  Global  Health strategies.

 Vanessa Mdee was later appointed the GAVI Ambassador and an active voice against cervical cancer. 

Vanessa Mdee launched her music career in 2012.  She is a very inspiring woman who has become very popular in Africa and around the world flying high the Tanzanian flag.