Undoubtedly a pop-phenomenon (and therefore ephemeral) is a modern style of taarab, called rusha roho, which translates literally 'to make the spirit fly' and has some untranslatable meaning approximating to 'upsetting someone' or 'making the other one jealous'. Modern taarab is also the first style of taarab that's designed to be danced to, and features direct lyrics, bypassing the unwritten laws of lyrical subtlety of the older groups.

Much of modern taarab music is composed and played on keyboards, increasing portability; hence the group is much smaller in number than 'real taarab' orchestras and therefore more readily available to tour and play shows throughout the region. This fact has led to enormous popularity in Zanzibar, boosted by the prolific output of cassette recordings, which, though not up to European studio quality standards, still outsell tapes by any other artist local or international.