Music (Tanzania): Katika by Diamond Platnumz ft. Navy Kenzo (2018)

 Play Katika {Video}


In Nairobi's Eastlands [Eastlando] of old, which some still remember, Katika was a verb (almost an adverb) reserved for unabashed, sexy dance-floor moves by certain female folks -- there in the social halls. More generally, it referred to walking the "sexy walk" -- even unintentionally. One suspects that Katika, the Tanzanian song we have here, references that apparently evergreen and energetic jargon. There's plenty of Katika in the present clip, for sure. And the word keeps turning up from every aural angle, and with every beat and pause and line of rap. 

But there's more. When it's her turn, as was inevitable, Aika (the female half of Navy Kenzo) bamboozles even seasoned Swahili speakers with her staccato, stream-of-consciousness rendition of seemingly incomprehensible lines: "Maumivu naugulia/Mwiba ukizama nahisi mateso/Utamu nang'ang'ania/Ndizi kwa nyama napata mchecheto/Nakuna nazi kwa mkongojo/Naunga mchuzi wa Sotojo/Uno la Rosti Rojolojo/Mikunjo fulani Wabogojo/..." She leaves them with a stammering sensation, trying to keep up -- even as Nahreel and Diamond Platnumz separately flirt! This is Aika as we've never seen her.

Katika treats the audience to a great and throbbing beat, as well, fused with a rich Samba melody. Supple dancing bodies fill the to-and-fro view, and sprinkle it with innuendo. A Latino frame of mind has become the scene, thusly, and won't let go.

Click here for the Katika lyrics

MUSIC (DRC): Salima by Franco and TPOK Jazz (1975)

Play Salima {Video}[1]

        It was typical, back in the day, for TPOK to credit all songs under its label to the band leader, Franco; and the band, as a totality. But the identities of individual band members and in particular the singers, had, and still have, a way of getting out and being widely and even wildly known. Keen observers, such as Aboubacar Siddikh, can often tell us who’s singing in which song or playing which instrument in a particular song. 

        It takes a lot of time and keen attention to do that – even if you’re a contemporary of theirs. And it adds subtle value to our appreciation of what we hear and see. Of course, having seen them ‘live’ and lived in ‘the mix’ of the culture helps the commentator a great deal in that project...

#LingalaPop

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[1] URL path to a relatively rare video of Franco and his band in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-i8SvLJwY [credit to Télé Zaire]

MUSIC ~ Bad Things by Tenor

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Bad Things is a very theatrically-oriented production, and tastefully laid out. The collage of images which the 'bold' eyes (our eyes) feast on is put together with a sure hand. Let not Tenor's torching-laser eyes from another place scare anyone with you. And do call back any who may, nonetheless, have scampered as you were distracted. Tenor means no ill. It's all an act... 

MUSIC (Angola): Estragar by C4Pedro ft. AGIR

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                 Plainly, Estragar (a 2016 release) is a contrived, and convenient, interlude – but we don’t really know between what and what. What’s more, this is perhaps true only if you don’t know Portuguese (in which the two singers sing). Under these circumstances, the motions and the sounds we see and hear should, will have to, suffice; if you ever trusted C4Pedro’s artistic intent -- he who is the shooting star in this narrative.

                 With that caveat offered, one is inclined to see Estragar as an ode to the drunken state – a state without borders. In this particular ‘instance’, it is, furthermore, a state under some kind of sweeping and enforceable lock-down order, or a curfew[1] – for reasons external to it...    

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[1] I’m here clearly using idioms which became globally real only four good years down the road – after Estragar was ‘dropped’. That is, with the sudden, game-changing and global invasion of Covid-19. But Estragar is a coincidence – certainly not a premonition. But who really knows?

MUSIC (Nigeria + S. Africa): Magun Remix by Niniola ft. Busiswa

Play Magun Remix {Video}

     Nigeria’s Niniola and South Africa’s Busiswa, superstars both, team up in a super-electric song: Magun Remix. Here’s how our attention is had, in Niniola’s own voice and virtual world, as an explosive beat sets the song off in no uncertain tone: "Nini de ohh ehh/Na Busiswa..."

     If you’ve seen Niniola in Maradona or Designer – there are others of course, such as Oyin, which means that she has artistic depth – and if you've seen Busiswa in Lahla or Midnight Starring, then you have some clarity in life; and about what’s happening here and right now. If you haven't, where have you been! 

    Magun Remix is, in a word, a frenzy of beats and ‘texting’ and song and rap from beginning to end – for, practically, all of 3:31 riveting minutes...

MUSIC (Nigeria): Bam Bam by Timaya ft. Olamide

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            What a tantalizing and melodious offering, this Bam Bam! "Second-life" Timaya and always-resourceful Olamide pull off an enchanting auditory 'stunt' – a sustained stream of many-sided sounds and even consciousness, and of timed naughtiness. They shuffle, as if, somehow, levitated. The dancin' gals do their darnedest in an imaginary ring – and even execute some kind of acupunch, here and there; but they wouldn't hurt a fly. The visuals glue the eyeballs all around...