MUSIC: Elengi ya Innoss'B na Koffi Olomide

Innoss'B and Koffi Olomide chose Elengi, which means sweet in Lingala (as in "What sweet love!"), for the title of their song here, which runs for 4:09 minutes and which is sweetness itself, from the beginning to the very end -- believe me! The word Elengi itself is sweet, tamu, mit! Bayaye! Wololo!

"Elengi ya Mbongo"

This amazing song is sung in three lingua francas: English, Lingala and French. The music is pure excuse for the funk in the lyrics that run in tandem with (and are integral to) it, and the groove in the dance that interprets the both of them for all to see and hear. As I see and hear it all myself!

"Elengi ya Mbongo"

Innoss'B is the Jeunne Leader in all this AfroCongo stuff! He who pleads with all the ladies "Show me what I want to see!" And isn't, or perhaps is, but not in the video. And Koffi Olomide, who roars like a Lion, his stage name, written invisibly in his mane, in truth is: "ah ah ah ah Quadra eh eh eh eh". Quadra in short.

"Elengi ya Mbongo"

A dramatic beginning, full of creative and rousing noise-making, prepares us for a journey of lyrically explosive sounds, unbelievably smooth glides and gloriously choreographed group-dancing, w/ a touch of Bruce Lee's kung fu posture even (arms raised and bent outward and downward at the wrist). Pity, though, that we see only glimpses, taunting and hunger-inducing glimpses, of dancers we can tell would be a wonder to c in full blast. P'raps it's all about the money. 

"Elengi ya Mbongo"

As said, then, Innoss'B and KO are the main agenda. When Innoss'B calls, KO's callback is a roar. And when KO is by the spirits moved to weigh in, he does so in stacatto bursts of phrase, and the effect is a moving, multicolored dance-hall ado. The supporting cast knows its place. When the act is really going and everything else is really 'forgot', Elengi is a grad (grand) seminar on cool performative swag. At its best, the rhythm of the body heaves and troughs like slow-motion waves in the near sea. That is, as the unseen band goes wild with whatever keys it uses to light up this wilderness of sound and mirth and technicolor -- as wild as the River Congo itself, at its crest.

"Elengi ya Mbongo"



WATCH VIDEO: Elengi by Innos'B ft. Koffi Olomide

CLICK: The Elengi Lyrics




Just found out that Mbongo means Money, as I got ready to publish this post (Dec 17, 2016 ~ 12:55 pm, GMT+3).

MUSIC (Bongo Flava): Salome by Diamond Platnumz and Rayvanny

Salome is sung in Swahili by two Tanzanian leading lights (Diamond Platnumz and Rayvanny). It was published in the second half of 2016 -- on September 18th, to be precise. It is one of at least two great productions in which each has been separately involved this year: Diamond in Kidogo, Bado and Kokoro, for example; and Rayvanny in Mugacherere and Natafuta Kiki.

Though it has a simple storyline, Salome, laden with melody and colorfulness itself, is simply one of the best songs out of Africa in 2016. It is captivating, first aurally and then visually and then both. 

The Sounds: when the song starts, it first rouses the attention, of whoever's around, with sung and played tunes. If you hear Sarome, instead of Salome, just know it's one and the same beautiful thing. Something familiar and homegrown in those tunes rings in a receptive communal ear (primed as it is with a rich array of apt sensibilities and even nurturing social capital), awakens it, which awakening further connects the listener to the blended emanations: beating drums, sensitive and self-assured guitar-play, whistle-blowers blowing away at measured intervals from where the song begins to wind down, sunny and air-spicing trumpet sounding comradely out of the blue, vocal cords in riveting melody and a celebratory mood. Lyrics steeped in intricate word-play and nuances of meaning. Everything becomes, in that orchestrated and invisible way, one big ball of harmony and good feeling. That's it if you are stuck on audio; but if you're viewing too, much more comes your way.

The Visuals, colorful and all so pleasing to the eye, are in harmony too with the sounds (and the sounds with them, as with each other). The men, in their obetoo legs, are all dressed at the start in coastal Swahili style -- first in stylized and more regal white kanzu, and then in the seafarer's garb, set in sober white and blue. Else, as there is progression in the story, in more assorted attire as perhaps the director wills. The guards' 'uniforms' evoke an intriguing past: is it Shaka Zulu's elite guards, or Lobengula's, or someone else's farther up north? Nobody really knows?  [So we still have a long story to tell].  The dancing ladies -- calm, feline, eleganza itself -- are red, red hot in vital ways: looks, dress-code, spirit, dance-floor moves. That's all.

All in all, then, Salome is a wholly melodious song at both its vocal and body-textual cores. Not to mention  the contrasting colors in which the lady-dancers wrap themselves. 

Here's the video. Si mjienjoy!

Click here for the Salome lyrics, written in Swahili 


Here below are two earlier videos which can be seen as the precursors of Salome, the first (Skelemba) is a Nigerian production, the second (Sijazoea) is made in Tanzania. Both are PGP (pretty good productions). Salome already had over 10 million YouTube views after only three months, in mid-December 2016. Skelemba, a 2014 production, had just over 1 million. Sijazoea , published in late May 2015, had 578,498 views. People forget easily, but Skelemba was a wildly inspiring and all-round entertaining offering. Yet, there you are:

1. Click here to watch Skelemba by Olomide ft. Don Jazzy

2. Click here to watch Sijazoea by AT 

Salome is a wholly melodious song at both its vocal and body-textual cores. Not to mention  the contrasting colors in which the lady-dancers wrap themselves. 

MUSIC (Tanzania): Kokoro by Rich Mavoko ft. Diamond Platnumz

Kokoro has a dramatic sight and sound opening, ushering, it seems, some kind of in-your-face spinning and swaying force-field come, alas, to rearrange a few things. Which is what happens. A bathtub 'apparition' -- art imitating a life-form in turn imitating art -- happens. 

Kokoro, safe to say, is a concerted effort by two Tanzanian artistes of no mean repute to throw caution to the wind under the feigned cover of innocence, in Dar's staid and organized air; and to do something at once bold n rebellious n different -- p'raps as the starting point of a new normal, in the era of which 'apparitions' may walk free. Something, like, visually outrageous happens alright, for 40 or so discontinuous seconds (between 0:14 and 1:00 on the video). That, if you missed the point, is the very same 'app' of which we talk. 

What goes with it is this: a sly taunting of the invisible censor's partial and crooked eye with 'never-before-seen' -- never before! --public visuals of God-given mama's things; here even crossed at the tip with light-absorbing black prudence. The result of all this inner-outer turmoil gives us some idea of what Churchill meant when he described Russia, so long ago now, as a: "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". [I think the version of that saying that I first read or heard, so many years ago, was: "an enigma within a riddle within a puzzle". After decades of memorizing the wrong word-play, the correct quote seems so awkwardly awkward, pondering and prosaic, if you ask me].

Kokoro was published only on November 26, 2016, and already had 1,221,018 YouTube views very early on December 15, 2016. But there is debate and concern surrounding Kokoro, already, in Tanzania (click here to read a pertinent observation, para. 1-5). How deep the concern is no one really knows yet. But Diamond is a towering African icon, already; and has many options.

I spy a touch of Spanish (or Portuguese?) sounds from the guitar strings in Kokoro. And more. The vibes one gets from the instruments are at their core all, or mostly, rooted in the same place(s), it seems to me. But they blend nicely with the Tanzanian images, vocals and lyrics. And so, all in all, what we have is a very conscious but perhaps not so well articulated experimentation with something new. Time will tell. I sensed the same kind of thing, with different ingredients, in C4 Pedro's very special Spetxa One. So there's spreading 'ferment' across our continent. Mo power!

In sum: the lyrics of this song may sound tame, but far from it in fact. They are even raunchier that the tub 'apparition'. If you can read Swahili (click here and see for yourself). But the words have rhyme and do flow. They are undoubtedly poetic. The dancers do try out some really new moves, even inside all that twerking -- though quantity masks the innovative quality that should come to the fore.

Click on the icon below, and watch Kokoro:

RAP Sophistication: Micasa Sucasa by Khaligraph Jones x Cashy

Micasa Sucasa is a study in cool sophistication, and rattlin’ rap – with decidedly Nairobi idioms. The lyrics are, if weretodelvedeeperintoemwithourownbrandofrapsensibility, a blend of sheng (itself a mix of Swahili and English and a barrage of footloose wordcraft from all over) and, if that’s still possible after all that, streetwise English brewed in Iborian. The music: it has a classy-mellow beat even the camera sways to – and so sways our awed eyes. Watch out you could get dizzy yourself up in your soul, mate!

“That’s enough, so let’s get

      lyrical now

Check it, I’m a lyrical

Picasso ka ni muziki mi

     nafanyia umati…”

OK! Good threads and smooth swag add to the couple’s conjoined and entrancing dark-chocolate charm. They’re here, truly, like (= ka) chanda na pete (= ring finger and ring-wrap). Superb vibes and gud, gud mdundo attest to this song’s high standing in Kenya’s virtual hall of sound art.

“Wanafikiri ni vako wapige

     tizi hatupotezi wakati

Utanipata nikihustle piga

     matill utadhani zaa…”

Watch the Micasa Sucasa clip

And here are the lyrics

Updated: May 27 2019

Dance for Me by Eugy ft. Mr. Eazi

Dance for Me is sung by two superb artistes from West Africa: (a) Ghanaian-born Eugy, who has lived in the UK for a long while; and, (b) Nigerian-born Mr. Eazi, who lives in Ghana, where he has blood relatives, and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering! The duo has clearly leveraged its 'all mixed-up' background to outperform, already, in the often treacherous music industry. Dance for Me will always be for me the best AfroPop song in 2016. Indeed, it was, shall we say, "one in a billion."

READ: A short biography of Eugy

CLICK: A bio of Mr. Eazi

Dance for Me (produced by Team Salut and directed by Alexx Adjei) starts with Mr. Eazi's alpha voice bellowing and drawing all the attention, in a most dramatic fashion. "It's yo boy Eazi," he declares, "Eugy official. Music so sensual." There's the theme, for this 2016 theme-song of dance videos!

You sense you're on to something spectacular here. You are. And yet the only images you see of both singers in the first video below -- which was produced earlier, and which the TV channels usually show -- are Eugy's pleasantries as he walks by the leading lady (at 0:15 seconds), and Mr. Eazi's still picture (at 0:17 seconds). You don't see either Mr. Eazi or Eugy sing, or dance. Their voices, which after much temptation (one supposes) even break into a bit of rap, are all you hear throughout the song's 3:29-minute run. To see the duo in any sort of action, you have to watch the second video below. It is included here in order to keep faith with a dictum I see no reason to violate: that for a dance video, as for the more common music video, consideration for purposes of rating (or ranking) should not be given to any track in which the singer, or singers, appears only in 'canned' form (for more of this argument, click to read this post). This stance leads me to a point that is at once more fundamental and more self-evident: You can have a song without dance, but no dance without a song -- heard, remembered or improvised.  

Dance for Me is, as Mr. Eazi suggests, a sensual [very sensual] dance video, with an addictive beat that's used sparingly here, since the voices dominate. Good overpowering vibes course through it all. We see the 'glow' of all this in those agile female bodies -- those who dance, who indeed become dance itself, with so much finesse and such refined attention to a sensitively detailed choreography. 

The lyrics are truly tailor-made for smart, vigorous and athletic dancing. And every dancer, as good as the next, adds to the marvel that is the totality of this track -- nothing of which escapes the camera's eye. 

Incidentally, we are informed that Shoki and Alkayida (note the spelling), which are showcased here, are two popular dancing styles in Ghana right now. So sing along -- and dab -- if you please:

"Shoki shoki me say alkayida
Baby dance for me and dab."

*****************END*********************
  
Video 1 (Published on April 18, 2016):

Video 2 (Published on September 2, 2016):

CLICK HERE: Dance for Me Lyrics

A Thought ~ 8: Secret Texts

One day, what big and small things of life that were once well known shall become secrets much sought after and fought over. And after generations and generations and even millennia of amnesia and ignorance of them, they shall become self-evident and known again -- with much celebration of them as new truths which in truth would be age-old. And it is not that humankind has not seen or sensed or heard this kind of thing before, nor that we had no records and hidden texts to keep us from slumber and help along, nor that we can help it when the cycle returns to its old beginning, which shall appear as new as can ever be.

MUSIC (Tanzania): Mugacherere by Qboy ft. Rayvanny ft. Shetta

Mugacherere was written, and is sung, by Tanzania's Q Boy. The video features his compatriots Rayvanny and Shetta -- who are musical heavyweights in their own right. As Jeff Msangi tells us in a blog post, Q Boy is in the first place a designer, of some repute. His designs are worn by, inter alia, superstar Diamond Platnumz himself, the Owner/Director of a Tanzanian recording house WCB, whose profile is steadily rising in African music circles through its signature hiss, Wasafi, which is heard at the beginning of every song released under its label.

READ; Jeff Msangi (October 25, 2016) "New Video Titled Mugacherere..." in www.BongoCelebrity.com

The Mugacherere video was shot in Johannesburg by Director Nicorux, and the track was published on October 24th, 2016. Less than two months later, by the evening (7:30 pm) of December 12, it had gained 611,727 YouTube views, and plenty of TV exposure via East Africa's premier (and only recently launched) music channel, Trace Mziki, and possibly other outlets. 

The song is undoubtedly sung in Tanzania's Bongo Flava style, which is part of the larger AfroPop. Chunks of it are clearly in Kiswahili, and there's a line or so of English, but much is in a Bantu language (vernacular) which many Tanzanians do know, of course, but which is yet largely unidentified outside Tanzania -- but certainly not for long.


CLICK TO READ: Mugacherere Lyrics (via www.zelyrics.com)

Mugacherere has all the basic ingredients of a successful music video, particularly for the dance-hall: energetic and catchy tunes and tones to get everyone quickly started and continuously engaged, a colorful stage-set to tease the eye, an attractive and rousing band, creative (hopefully sing-along) lyrics with a theme or themes the audience can relate to, good and dependable lighting, and a well-calibrated sound system. 

I think, however, that there is more energy, but less passion, in Mugacherere than one finds in Upon Me, sung so wonderfully as well by Kiss Daniel and Sugarboy. The point here is that the two songs represent two styles put together for exactly the same purpose: to serenade a lady deemed suitable for a long-term relationship -- that is, for marriage -- and to do so successfully! So, you tell me... [You can still make a choice between the two styles, even if you're no longer in that game -- or not yet; and even if you're a firm believer in that pop adage: "No finance, no romance"].

A final point: In Mugacherere, we come upon a wonderfully creative bend in the road where flashes of brilliance bring into life a duet between voice (man/vocalist) and sound ('machine'/(musical instruments) which makes the soul soar, if temporarily, high above day-to-day sensibilities. You will recall, of course, that this was a technique, an innovation, which earlier generations of Congolese musicians frequently used, and which their fans celebrated. But it waned, and you don't witness it often enough, if at all, these days. 

MUSIC (Togo): Teré Teré by Toofan

Toofan is a super-inspired and talented duo from Togo, in West Africa. They go by the 'stage' names of Masta Just and Barabas, respectively. They have been around for more than a couple of years now, and their fame has only grown. Last month, November 2016, they released a very catchy track titled Teré Teré, which is making great waves right now on TV channels dedicated to music -- more specifically Trace Mziki and Trace Naija -- across Africa. It's catchy in both the sight and sound realms. Catchy and captivating.

       Click here for the video

The song is sung in French. But some East Africans would be forgiven to think that Toofan was using two words very familiar in their vernacular: Mano Ber (at 0:38, 0:47, 1:31, 1:40, 2:23, 2:32 and 3:18 of the video); and Sibuor (loudly at 1:42). Just aural illusions, rather than smart-alec allusions, though. For these East African ears, mano ber has a clear meaning: "that's good or fine" (whatever that is). Sibuor is the word for a lion (preferably a male lion in full gear, or mane). 

About five decades ago, one still recalls, a popular Jamaican song (by Chaka Demus and Pliers) titled Murder She Wrote (read the background story here) was similarly widely but mistakenly 'heard' and sung in Nairobi as "Mama Shiro"! And so it goes, charmingly.

Teré Teré is both the essential song and the beat which carries the dance along. It is, that is to say, a part of that niche in pop music which lays great emphasis on dancing -- group-dance (or choreographed dance routines) -- and so discourages extended or 'fancy' singing. This niche has been around for quite a while, really, but seems to be enjoying some kind of resurgence now. So the singing in Teré Teré is of limited scope. 

The only melody there is in Teré Teré, you don't hear -- you see. It is in the body-text of the men and women or girls of the very same Teré Teré. It is in how their bodies excite in unison, driven 'madly' sensuous by beat, mood and indigo circumstance. It is in the perfectly timed pauses that, in the 'witching moment, transmute into poses -- and postures, even -- that are themselves music to the eye. In the rippling glow of a slow-motion jig in the video by the lady in grey at the car's open doors, her back to us. It's in the awkwardly outstretched hands seeming to levitating the dancer who stretches them, with knees knocking, into the very heart of the dance. And finally in that naughty finger-pointing by the male protagonist, sneakily taunting fertile minds.

In short, to borrow a meme from Swiss cheese, Teré Teré is practically all dance, with just enough lyrics (and related singing) to hold the dance together. And Teré Teré is at once the song's title and the lyrics' (and the dance's) dominant punctuation mark.
Click Here for a Partial Transcript of: Teré Teré lyrics







#TheYamboSelection

Twofer: Haiku

Two egrets dancing
Upon a blue elephant
Sinning in the pond.

Or:

Two blue egrets dance
On a white bull-elephant
Sinful in the swamp.

[Put Your Love] Upon Me by Kiss Daniel x Sugarboy

At face value, the song titled [Put Your Love]Upon Me, by Kiss Daniel and Sugarboy, can be understood in two contending but plausible senses. In the first sense, two young men are 'fighting' with (by means of) song over the heart of a girl -- a Mona Lisa, a Rihanna -- whom both love dearly but rather differently and would, truly, love to marry. 

In the second sense, two lovesick types do a 'duet', with verbal swag, about deep love for a lovely girl -- for this "pretty fine girl" who is suitable in every which way for marriage. In this latter sense, the story-line is not about winner-take-all competition between two earnest beaux actually ready to settle. Rather, it provides a template for the expression of intense love for a member of the opposite sex, in the abstract. Thus, without complications, it allows two singers to share, almost concurrently, expressions of love for their undivided "object of desire". But what if the video had each singing to a different lady? You be the judge. 

The video is fairly and deliberately 'laid back', as there's little dancing to see, and the singing (and the beat that goes with it) are measured. The set's lighting system consistently dims when Sugar Boy and the supporting cast appear. It really only brightens when the spotlight turns to Kiss Daniel himself. Overall, however, the ambience is decidedly mellow.

Except for certain clumsy expressions in the lyrics (such as "You're supposed to marry someone like me" or "You better say yes, you better say yes"), Upon Me is a captivating song. And Kiss Daniel's romantic voice is a (surprisingly) wonderfully modulated anchor for the aural feast that the video, nearly in its entirety, becomes -- for some 1:54 precious-as-gold minutes (the entire video runs for 3:21 minutes). Then there's a well-calibrated echo-system (an 'echo-chamber' of sorts) which, in the moments that it is in full play, adds amazing depth to the bouquet of sounds -- melody, harmony, pitch, beat -- that tease the ear and, truly, add unforgettable magic to the proceedings. Still, as so often happens in video productions of African music (with which I am familiar), the percussion instruments used here succeed only in projecting a grating effect.

Click on the icon below to play the song, and hear Sugarboy croon ~ "Baby come closer oh, so I can treat you better. Come closer":

QUOTE: "I'll be all all yours, faithfully oh yea" ~ Kiss Daniel

Remember this refrain played by the invisible band?
Tindaa Ti, Tindaa Ti,

Tindaa, Tindaa, Tindaa Ti,
Tindaa Ti, Tindaa Ti, 
Tindaa, Tindaa, Tindaa Ti.

HERE: The lyrics of Upon Me