Vanessa Hau Mdee (born 7 June 1988),[1] is a Tanzanian singer, rapper, television personality and radio host. After joining B’hits Music Group, Mdee collaborated with Tanzanian rapper A.Y. on a record Money and Ommy Dimpoz, a Bongo Flava artist on a record Me and You that was later voted Song of the Year during the 2013 Kilimanjaro Music Awards.[2] She received an even bigger buzz with the release of her first solo single “Closer”, which in its first week was downloaded over 30,000 times, a feat achieved by no other Tanzanian artist. “Closer” remained on the charts for over 13 weeks. Vanessa has had the chance to interview many artists, such as K’Naan, Kelly Rowland, French Montana, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, Ludacris, Miguel, Donald, Nazizi, Xtatic, Stella Mwangi, Camp Mulla, Tay Grin, Teargas and many more African and international acts. In 2015 and 2016, she released three singles (“Nobody But Me”, “Never Ever” and “Niroge”) which were also received well. In 2018, she was signed to Universal Music Group. During her Deep Dive With Vanessa Mdee Podcast in 2020, Vanessa Mdee in an unforeseen move, announced to quit the music industry citing pressure and depression as the cause of her decision. Vanessa Mdee was born on 7 June 1988 in Arusha, the third-largest city in Tanzania. Mdee became familiar with various cultures after growing up in New York, Paris, Nairobi and Arusha. She obtained her secondary and high level education at Arusha Modern High School. Mdee attended university at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa to pursue a law degree. Mdee quickly became familiar with many different forms of creative and performing arts.
