East Africa's Top 5 Happiest Songs of 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

Happiness is a state of mind, a feeling - with feelers to the 'outside'. Outside becomes what things we allow it to become, and what things we have no control over and so impose themselves. Happiness and Love? They are twins. Twins, which, sometimes, alas, we find in mortal combat.

Good music: In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino utters these immortal words:  "If music be the food of life, play on; / Give
me excess of it ..." Good music is at once a convergence of happiness - happy feelings - and its source. Happy songs make people happy, happy people arguably happier, and less sad sad people - and even, perhaps, happy; if they're not too deep into their own sadness. They breed happiness through the joyfulness of the words in the song and the soulfulness of the song in the words, the melody in the tunes, the liveliness of the body-language and suppleness of the assembled 'bodies', the harmony of the charged instruments, the pulsating visuals of the video, and the warmth of the stage upon which everything, and everything else, is set.

There is magic in the happy song, then. The song that makes people happy has magical power over 'em. So, oh my goodness, does the song that makes people truly sad.

There are times, if I may digress, that I have thought (sensed would be too strong a word) that truly throbbing drumbeat among the prayerful carries within it the voice of God in its surreal, surround beat, as it's heard among the gathered, and as it cascades across the land - and even among the landless and the faithless.

So good music, howsoever it is delivered, has the powers -- howsoever we c these powers. But, I ask:
Why is it that music videos that elicit the most happiness seem generally to have a street motif?

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Can happiness be measured? That's a question for another day.

BUT READ THIS IN THE MEANTIME: World Happiness Report 2015

DO ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion" that I posted on December 9, 2008


HERE, THEN, ARE EAST AFRICA'S TOP 5 HAPPIEST SONGS OF 2014
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]
[For the selection criteria used in creating this list, go to the bottom of this post]

5. KooKoo by Elani (2014):

4. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz x Diamond Platnumz (2014):

3. Sura Yako by Sauti Sol (2014):

2. Be Happy By Eddy Kenzo (2014):

1. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++

SELECTION/INCLUSION CRITERIA

To Qualify for inclusion in this list, a song Was required to meet The Following criteria:
1. Released as music video in 2014. Broadly in any of these genres: Pop, RnB, Hip-Hop, Reggae
2 Available via YouTube or Otherwise available online
3. Predominantly sung by an artiste or artistes from Africa, PARTICULARLY Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Regularly played on one or more of Africa's leading music channels: Afro Pop and HipTV Music, in particular (they pay sustained attention to their African audience); Sound City, MTV Base and Trace Urban (all three of whose fare is significantly more diffuse).
5. Have a discernible "happiness" (or sunny) content/slant in terms of the following mix of considerations: beat, language (verbal or body), lyrics, melody, visuals (dance routines, 'stage sets' and video quality), voice (and audio quality) and use of vocal and technical instruments
6. Broad sensitivity to sub-regional tastes and artists' bases of operation (East, West, Central or Southern)
7. Gender: Minimum of 1/3 Rule, if short-listed songs make this possible.

Top 25 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

 INTRODUCTION

Happiness is a state of mind, a feeling - with feelers to the 'outside'. Outside becomes what things we allow it to become, and what things we have no control over and so impose themselves.

Happiness and Love? They are twins. Twins, which, sometimes, alas, we find in mortal combat.

Good music!

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino utters these immortal words:  "If music be the food of life, play on; / Give me excess of it ..." I just want to endorse that here. If good music be, let it be. Give me more, is all!

Good music is at once a convergence of happiness - happy feelings - and its source. Happy songs make people happy, happy people arguably happier, and less sad sad people - and even, perhaps, happy; if they're not too deep into their own sadness. They breed happiness through the joyfulness of the words in the song and the soulfulness of the song in the words, the melody in the tunes, the liveliness of the body-language and suppleness of the assembled 'bodies', the harmony of the charged instruments, the pulsating visuals of the video, and the warmth of the stage upon which everything, and everything else, is set.

There is magic in the happy song, then. The song that makes people happy has magical power over 'em. So, oh my goodness, does the song that makes people truly sad.

There are times, if I may digress, that I have thought (sensed would be too strong a word) that truly throbbing drumbeat among the prayerful carries within it the voice of God in its surreal, surround beat, as it's heard among the gathered, and as it cascades across the land - and even among the landless and the faithless.

So good music, howsoever it is delivered, has the powers -- howsoever we c these powers. But, I ask:
Why is it that music videos that elicit the most happiness seem generally to have a street motif?

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Can happiness be measured? That's a question for another day.

BUT READ THIS IN THE MEANTIME: World Happiness Report 2015

DO ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion" that I posted on December 9, 2008

HERE, THEN, ARE THE TOP 25 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2014

[For the selection and ranking criteria used in creating this list, go to the bottom of this post]

25. Sugua Gaga by Shaa (25):

24. Chuna Buzi by Shilole (2014):

23. Pala Pala by Mani Bella (2014):

22. Mfalme wa Mapenzi by Sanaipei [Sana] (2014):

21. Go Down Low by Palasso ft. Sheebah (2014):

20. Terminus by Laurette La Perle (2014):

19. Show by Victoria Kimani (2014):

18. Koolio by Stella Mwangi (2014):

17. Mimempata by Pam Daffa ft. Mesen Selecta (2014):

16. Coco Baby by Waje ft. Diamond Platnumz (2014):

15. Chapa Nyingine by Chege ft. Gift (2014):

14. Amour en Or by Claudia Bakisa ft. Fabregas Metis Noir (2014):

13. Triple Option by Papa Wemba ft. Barbara Kanam (2014):

12. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

11. Gimme Some More by Fliptyce ft. Yemi Alade (2014):

10. Adaobi by MAVINS [Don Jazzy x Reekado Banks x Di'ja x Korede Bello] (2014):

9. Kuchi Kuchi by J'Ordie (2014):

8. Girlie 'O' Remix by Patoranking ft. Tiwa Savage (2014):

7. Face a Face by Mani Bella (2014):
Mani Bella is irrepressible, resourceful.

6. KooKoo by Elani (2014):
Happy to have Elani's wonderful voice featured here, singing KooKoo for all to hear. Much Love in the Iborian air.

5. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft Ommy Dimploz and Diamond Platnumz (2014):
Victoria Kimani is a Kenyan gal who's already going places, as you can see from her two friends, OD and DP.

4. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):
All laid back, two great sophisticates join to drop a lovely track: Fiki Fiko Fion. Koffi Olomide reigns still, an unobtrusive monarch. Claudia Bakisa patiently waits, with pent-up energy, for Africa's playing field to level.

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):
Linah delivers a wonderfully, delightfully charming bouquet of colors and sound. And beauty. And verve. The dancing girls are a feast for the eye. The lyrics, in Kiswahili, are superbly, artfully, put together. The melody -- the whole ambience -- transports us, all of us, to a place no one wants to come back from in a hurry.

Linah is a pleasantly surprising 'discovery', and a full member of the superstar group that populates this Yambo Selection 2014. She brings along with her everyone, everyone bar none, in the video.

2 Tchelete (Good Life) by Davido and Mafikizolo ft. Uhuru and Oskido (2014):
Davido and Mafikizolo? A super-charged duo delivers a song made in musical heaven. davido also scored big at the MTVMAMA2015.

1. Dorobucci by Mavin Don Jazzy, Reekado Banks, Dr. Sid, Korede Bello, Tiwa Savage ... (2014):
Dorobucci was voted Africa's best single of the year (2014) earlier this year at the MTVMAMA2015. This is a verdict that I, having myself already arrived at it before MTVMAMA2015, fully endorse. All of Africa does. It is for me also the happiest song of 2014. Nothing could stop Dorobucci that year.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++

SELECTION/INCLUSION CRITERIA

To Qualify for inclusion in this list, a song Was required to meet The Following criteria:
1. Released as music video in 2014. Broadly in any of these genres: Pop, RnB, Hip-Hop, Reggae
2 Available via YouTube or Otherwise available online
3. Predominantly sung by an artiste or artistes from Africa, PARTICULARLY Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Regularly played on one or more of Africa's leading music channels: Afro Pop and HipTV Music, in particular (they pay sustained attention to their African audience); Sound City, MTV Base and Trace Urban (all three of whose fare is significantly more diffuse).
5. Have a discernible "happiness" (or sunny) content/slant in terms of the following mix of considerations: beat, language (verbal or body), lyrics, melody, visuals (dance routines, 'stage sets' and video quality), voice (and audio quality) and use of vocal and technical instruments
6. Broad sensitivity to sub-regional tastes and artists' bases of operation (East, West, Central or Southern)
7. Gender: Minimum of 1/3 Rule, if short-listed songs make this possible.


RANKING CRITERION FOR INDIVIDUAL SELECTIONS

1. How does Yambo rate a particular song relative to the others on the list?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A call for comments: Your comments on individual selections and ranking criterion will be highly appreciated.

Note: I can imagine a future in which all I have tried to do here is open to public participation.

Top 10 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

 INTRODUCTION

Happiness is a state of mind, a feeling - with feelers to the 'outside'. Outside becomes what things we allow it to become, and what things we have no control over and so impose themselves.

Happiness and Love? They are twins. Twins, which, sometimes, alas, we find in mortal combat.

Good music!

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino utters these immortal words:  "If music be the food of life, play on; / Give me excess of it ..." I just want to endorse that here. If good music be, let it be. Give me more, is all!

Good music is at once a convergence of happiness - happy feelings - and its source. Happy songs make people happy, happy people arguably happier, and less sad sad people - and even, perhaps, happy; if they're not too deep into their own sadness. They breed happiness through the joyfulness of the words in the song and the soulfulness of the song in the words, the melody in the tunes, the liveliness of the body-language and suppleness of the assembled 'bodies', the harmony of the charged instruments, the pulsating visuals of the video, and the warmth of the stage upon which everything, and everything else, is set.

There is magic in the happy song, then. The song that makes people happy has magical power over 'em. So, oh my goodness, does the song that makes people truly sad.

There are times, if I may digress, that I have thought (sensed would be too strong a word) that truly throbbing drumbeat among the prayerful carries within it the voice of God in its surreal, surround beat, as it's heard among the gathered, and as it cascades across the land - and even among the landless and the faithless.

So good music, howsoever it is delivered, has the powers -- howsoever we c these powers. But, I ask:
Why is it that music videos that elicit the most happiness seem generally to have a street motif?

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Can happiness be measured? That's a question for another day.

BUT READ THIS IN THE MEANTIME: World Happiness Report 2015

DO ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion" that I posted on December 9, 2008

HERE, THEN, ARE THE TOP 10 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2014

[For the selection and ranking criteria used in creating this list, go to the bottom of this post]

10. Adaobi by MAVINS [Don Jazzy x Reekado Banks x Di'ja x Korede Bello] (2014):

9. Kuchi Kuchi by J'Ordie (2014):

8. Girlie 'O' Remix by Patoranking ft. Tiwa Savage (2014):

7. Face a Face by Mani Bella (2014):
Mani Bella is irrepressible, resourceful.

6. KooKoo by Elani (2014):
Happy to have Elani's wonderful voice featured here, singing KooKoo for all to hear. Much Love in the Iborian air

5. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft Ommy Dimploz and Diamond Platnumz (2014):
Victoria Kimani is a Kenyan gal who's already going places, as you can see from her two friends, OD and DP.

4. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):
All laid back, two great sophisticates join to drop a lovely track: Fiki Fiko Fion. Koffi Olomide reigns still, an unobtrusive monarch. Claudia Bakisa patiently waits, with pent-up energy, for Africa's playing field to level.

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):
Linah delivers a wonderfully, delightfully charming bouquet of colors and sound. And beauty. And verve. The dancing girls are a feast for the eye. The lyrics, in Kiswahili, are superbly, artfully, put together. The melody -- the whole ambience -- transports us, all of us, to a place no one wants to come back from in a hurry.

Linah is a pleasantly surprising 'discovery', and a full member of the superstar group that populates this Yambo Selection 2014. She brings along with her everyone, everyone bar none, in the video.

2 Tchelete (Good Life) by Davido and Mafikizolo ft. Uhuru and Oskido (2014):
Davido and Mafikizolo? A super-charged duo delivers a song made in musical heaven. davido also scored big at the MTVMAMA2015.

1. Dorobucci by Mavin Don Jazzy, Reekado Banks, Dr. Sid, Korede Bello, Tiwa Savage ... (2014):
Dorobucci was voted Africa's best single of the year (2014) earlier this year at the MTVMAMA2015. This is a verdict that I, having myself already arrived at it before MTVMAMA2015, fully endorse. All of Africa does. It is for me also the happiest song of 2014. Nothing could stop Dorobucci that year.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++

SELECTION/INCLUSION CRITERIA

To Qualify for inclusion in this list, a song Was required to meet The Following criteria:
1. Released as music video in 2014. Broadly in any of these genres: Pop, RnB, Hip-Hop, Reggae
2 Available via YouTube or Otherwise available online
3. Predominantly sung by an artiste or artistes from Africa, PARTICULARLY Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Regularly played on one or more of Africa's leading music channels: Afro Pop and HipTV Music, in particular (they pay sustained attention to their African audience); Sound City, MTV Base and Trace Urban (all three of whose fare is significantly more diffuse).
5. Have a discernible "happiness" (or sunny) content/slant in terms of the following mix of considerations: beat, language (verbal or body), lyrics, melody, visuals (dance routines, 'stage sets' and video quality), voice (and audio quality) and use of vocal and technical instruments
6. Broad sensitivity to sub-regional tastes and artists' bases of operation (East, West, Central or Southern)
7. Gender: Minimum of 1/3 Rule, if short-listed songs make this possible.


RANKING CRITERION FOR INDIVIDUAL SELECTIONS

1. How does Yambo rate a particular song relative to the others on the list?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A call for comments: Your comments on individual selections and ranking criterion will be highly appreciated.

Note: I can imagine a future in which all I have tried to do here is open to public participation.

Top 5 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

 INTRODUCTION

Happiness is a state of mind, a feeling - with feelers to the 'outside'. Outside becomes what things we allow it to become, and what things we have no control over and so impose themselves.

Happiness and Love? They are twins. Twins, which, sometimes, alas, we find in mortal combat.

Good music!

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino utters these immortal words:  "If music be the food of life, play on; / Give me excess of it ..." I just want to endorse that here. If good music be, let it be. Give me more, is all!

Good music is at once a convergence of happiness - happy feelings - and its source. Happy songs make people happy, happy people arguably happier, and less sad sad people - and even, perhaps, happy; if they're not too deep into their own sadness. They breed happiness through the joyfulness of the words in the song and the soulfulness of the song in the words, the melody in the tunes, the liveliness of the body-language and suppleness of the assembled 'bodies', the harmony of the charged instruments, the pulsating visuals of the video, and the warmth of the stage upon which everything, and everything else, is set.

There is magic in the happy song, then. The song that makes people happy has magical power over 'em. So, oh my goodness, does the song that makes people truly sad.

There are times, if I may digress, that I have thought (sensed would be too strong a word) that truly throbbing drumbeat among the prayerful carries within it the voice of God in its surreal, surround beat, as it's heard among the gathered, and as it cascades across the land - and even among the landless and the faithless.

So good music, howsoever it is delivered, has the powers -- howsoever we c these powers. But, I ask:
Why is it that music videos that elicit the most happiness seem generally to have a street motif?

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Can happiness be measured? That's a question for another day.

BUT READ THIS IN THE MEANTIME: World Happiness Report 2015

DO ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion" that I posted on December 9, 2008

HERE, THEN, ARE THE TOP 5 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2014

[For the selection and ranking criteria used in creating this list, go to the bottom of this post]

5. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft Ommy Dimploz and Diamond Platnumz (2014):
Victoria Kimani is a Kenyan gal who's already going places, as you can see from her two friends, OD and DP.

4. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):
All laid back, two great sophisticates join to drop a lovely track: Fiki Fiko Fion. Koffi Olomide reigns still, an unobtrusive monarch. Claudia Bakisa patiently waits, with pent-up energy, for Africa's playing field to level.

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):
Linah delivers a wonderfully, delightfully charming bouquet of colors and sound. And beauty. And verve. The dancing girls are a feast for the eye. The lyrics, in Kiswahili, are superbly, artfully, put together. The melody -- the whole ambience -- transports us, all of us, to a place no one wants to come back from in a hurry.

Linah is a pleasantly surprising 'discovery', and a full member of the superstar group that populates this Yambo Selection 2014. She brings along with her everyone, everyone bar none, in the video.

2 Tchelete (Good Life) by Davido and Mafikizolo ft. Uhuru and Oskido (2014):
Davido and Mafikizolo? A super-charged duo delivers a song made in musical heaven. davido also scored big at the MTVMAMA2015.

1. Dorobucci by Mavin Don Jazzy, Reekado Banks, Dr. Sid, Korede Bello, Tiwa Savage ... (2014):
Dorobucci was voted Africa's best single of the year (2014) earlier this year at the MTVMAMA2015. This is a verdict that I, having myself already arrived at it before MTVMAMA2015, fully endorse. All of Africa does. It is for me also the happiest song of 2014. Nothing could stop Dorobucci that year.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++

SELECTION/INCLUSION CRITERIA

To Qualify for inclusion in this list, a song Was required to meet The Following criteria:
1. Released as music video in 2014. Broadly in any of these genres: Pop, RnB, Hip-Hop, Reggae
2 Available via YouTube or Otherwise available online
3. Predominantly sung by an artiste or artistes from Africa, PARTICULARLY Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Regularly played on one or more of Africa's leading music channels: Afro Pop and HipTV Music, in particular (they pay sustained attention to their African audience); Sound City, MTV Base and Trace Urban (all three of whose fare is significantly more diffuse).
5. Have a discernible "happiness" (or sunny) content/slant in terms of the following mix of considerations: beat, language (verbal or body), lyrics, melody, visuals (dance routines, 'stage sets' and video quality), voice (and audio quality) and use of vocal and technical instruments
6. Broad sensitivity to sub-regional tastes and artists' bases of operation (East, West, Central or Southern)
7. Gender: Minimum of 1/3 Rule, if short-listed songs make this possible.


RANKING CRITERION FOR INDIVIDUAL SELECTIONS

1. How does Yambo rate a particular song relative to the others on the list?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A call for comments: Your comments on individual selections and ranking criterion will be highly appreciated.

Note: I can imagine a future in which all I have tried to do here is open to public participation.

Awilo Longomba's Cache Cache

Awilo Longomba's Cache Cache, translated as 'hide and seek', was uploaded as video to YouTube only on June 4th, 2011. But the audio version is really much older than the year suggests. As the chronology of his artistic journey indicates, the song features in his Kafou Kafou album/CD, which was released in 2001 (see also this source) -- though year 2000 has also been mentioned. 

Cache cache is a gem. Very French in the lyrics. Very Awilo in the vibes. It is (self)-teasing in spirit. And naughty. It is a whirlwind of mirth and tempo. And unforgettable. It is so very 'fun'!

The dancers' energy infects. Their verve conquers all who fall into its embrace, and who are game for an unbridled and mesmerizing swirl. The beat is show-stopping. 

Awilo, the quintessential "animateur", he who is the heart of the party (any party we find him in), is the centrifugal force for all the dancing we're witness to here -- as well as the song and the tunes it accompanies, and likewise spices. And the girls, both singing and dancing? Well, they are sirens.

Click here for the Cache Cache video

Top 25 Pop Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name The Top 25 (or 10 or 5) pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my selection of the Top 25. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.


RANKING THE TOP 25 SELECTION

25.  Woman in Love by Vivian (2014):

24. Nikimuona by Avril (2014):

22. Only You by Nene ft. Jay A (2014):

22. Baramushaka by Knowless (2014):

21. Barua Ya Dunia by Elani (2014):

20. Sugua Gaga by Shaa (2014):

19. Chuna Buzi by Shilole (2014):

18. Mfalme wa Mapenzi by Sanaipei [Sana] (2014):

17. Go Down Low by Palasso ft. Sheebah (2014):

16. Show by Victoria Kimani (2014):

15. Coco Baby by Waje ft. Diamond Platnumz (2014):

14. Koolio by Stella Mwangi (2014):

13. Nimempata by Pam Daffa ft. Mesen Selecta (2014):

12. Chapa Nyingine by Chege ft. Gift (2014):

11. Kookoo by Elani (2014):

10. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

~~~~
9. Retaan by Viviane Chidid (2014):

8. Awww by D'ija (2014):

7. Blessings by Stormrex (2014):

6. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz and Diamond Platnumz (2014):

5. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):

4. Wanted by Tiwa Savage (2014):

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

2. Johnny by Yemi Alade (2014):

You saw at the MTVMAMA2015 how Johnny gets to you at a public gathering. Does so too on radio, where I first heard it, with that distinctive (shall I say sexy?) Yemi Alade voice. A girl determined to get her Johnny (to behave) always wins hearts -- many, many more than she may lose.

1. Tchelete by Davido ft. Mafikizolo (2014):

Lukadem go! Such spirited immersion in the song. Davido and Mafikizolo draw us all into this veritable trance -- this vortex of sound and sight.

Top 10 Pop Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name The Top 25 (or 10 or 5) pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my selection of the Top 10. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.

RANKING THE TOP 10 SELECTION

10. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

9. Retaan by Viviane Chidid (2014):

8. Awww by D'ija (2014):

7. Blessings by Stormrex (2014):

6. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz and Diamond Platnumz (2014):

5. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):

4. Wanted by Tiwa Savage (2014):

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

2. Johnny by Yemi Alade (2014):

You saw at the MTVMAMA2015 how Johnny gets to you at a public gathering. Does so too on radio, where I first heard it, with that distinctive (shall I say sexy?) Yemi Alade voice. A girl determined to get her Johnny (to behave) always wins hearts -- many, many more than she may lose.

1. Tchelete by Davido ft. Mafikizolo (2014):

Lukadem go! Such spirited immersion in the song. Davido and Mafikizolo draw us all into this veritable trance -- this vortex of sound and sight.

Top 5 Pop Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name the Top 25 (or 10 or 5) pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my Top 5 selection. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.


RANKING THE TOP 5 SELECTION

5. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide (2014):

4. Wanted by Tiwa Savage (2014):

3. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

2. Johnny by Yemi Alade (2014):

You saw at the MTVMAMA2015 how Johnny gets to you at a public gathering. Does so too on radio, where I first heard it, with that distinctive (shall I say sexy?) Yemi Alade voice. A girl determined to get her Johnny (to behave) always wins hearts -- many, many more than she may lose.

1. Tchelete by Davido ft. Mafikizolo (2014):

Lukadem go! Such spirited immersion in the song. Davido and Mafikizolo draw us all into this veritable trance -- this vortex of sound and sight.

Top 15 Pop Songs By/Featuring East African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION:

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name the Top 15 pop songs by/featuring East African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my selection. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.

RANKING THE TOP 15 SELECTION:

15. Only You by Nene ft. Jay A (2014):

14. Baramushaka by Knowless (2014):

13. Barua Ya Dunia by Elani (2014):

12. Sugua Gaga by Shaa (2014):

11. Chuna Buzi by Shilole (2014):

10. Mfalme wa Mapenzi by Sanaipei [Sana] (2014):

9. Go Down Low by Palasso ft. Sheebah (2014):

8. Show by Victoria Kimani (2014):

7. Koolio by Stella Mwangi (2014):

6. Mimempata by Pam Daffa ft. Mesen Selecta (2014):

5. Chapa Nyingine by Chege ft. Gift (2014):

4. Kookoo by Elani (2014):

3. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

2. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz x Diamond Platnumz (2014):

1. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

Top 10 Pop Songs By/Featuring East African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name the Top 10 pop songs by/featuring East African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my selection. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.

RANKING THE TOP 10 SELECTION

10. Mfalme wa Mapenzi by Sanaipei [Sana] (2014):

9. Go Down Low by Palasso ft. Sheebah (2014):

8. Show by Victoria Kimani (2014):

7. Koolio by Stella Mwangi (2014):

6. Mimempata by Pam Daffa ft. Mesen Selecta (2014):

5. Chapa Nyingine by Chege ft. Gift (2014):

4. Kookoo by Elani (2014):

3. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

2. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz x Diamond Platnumz (2014):

1. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

Top 5 Pop Songs By/Featuring East African Divas in 2014 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

If one were to ask me, as I have already asked myself, to name the Top 5 pop songs by/featuring East African Divas in 2014, here below would be, and is, my selection. All my selections have a decidedly audio-visual focus, and so only rate music videos.

Of course, the naming of more than one 'like' inevitably prompts the question as to which 'like' comes first, and which next or last. In selecting and ranking my top African or East African  'likes' -- I limit myself to Sub-Saharan Africa -- I have been broadly guided by the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score):
1. The creative appeal and musicality of the voice asset.
2. The choice and mastery of the musical instruments in play.
3. The poetic form and content of the lyrics.
4. The artistic and aesthetic depth of the video component.
5. The synchronic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color display.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single, from beginning to end, impresses me -- or makes me feel about my encounter with it. This criterion also serves as a qualitative tie-breaker; that is, a virtual 'casting vote' whenever any other criteria yield a quantitative tie.


RANKING THE TOP 5 SELECTION

5. Chapa Nyingine by Chege ft. Gift (2014):

4. Kookoo by Elani (2014):

3. Njoo by Shaa ft. Redsan (2014):

2. Prokoto by Victoria Kimani ft. Ommy Dimploz x Diamond Platnumz (2014):

1. Ole Themba by Linah (2014):

MUSIC AND CITYSCAPES: Jua Cali's Nairobi, Olamide's Lagos

In their wide-ranging article of January 27th, 2015 titled "Songs About Cityscapes," Dorothy Lynskey et al reviewed some 47 songs about cities around the globe. One of these, in Congolese, was Mbilia Bel's Nakei Nairobi -- later released in Swahili as Twende Nairobi (that is Let's go to Nairobi).

About three weeks after the publication of the Lynskey et al article -- on February 20, 2015 to be precise -- Jua Cali, a leading light (and brand) in Kenya's music fraternity, released a video of his own song for Nairobi titled Karibu Nairobi (Welcome to Nairobi). In spirit, it vaguely reminds you of one of its precursors -- Will Smith's 2011 song, Miami; but the two are literally worlds apart. Here, below, it is:


Video of Karibu Nairobi


About a year and a half later, Nigerian artiste Olamide Baddo also released a video (shown below) honoring his own city of Lagos.


Click here for his I Love Lagos video

So we have in our hands now a tale of two cities, so to speak. That is: Nairobi and Lagos. What do we make of them?

The musicality of Olamide's offering is there for all to hear. The tunes and tones are more refined than one gets in Jua Cali's. And yet, if you really want to get a quick visual picture of Lagos and Nairobi, Jua Cali's video is more extensive and less tinted; and so more revealing. And so more rewarding. It's not surprising that each of those terrains is cast on a much larger canvas than Wizkid's neighborhood (mtaa, in Swahili) of Ojuelegba, which nevertheless has a charm of its own.

But Olamide's 'hides' the seams -- by highlighting the 'fun' images. It's more motivated by the urge to counter those memes and naysayers that he feels needlessly and perhaps maliciously (if not snootily) put Lagos down. It demands respect for his city, and seeks to steer the narrative a certain way. Not necessarily a bad thing.

READ: "POLITICS, URBAN DESIGN AND MUSC: To Love or Not to Love Lagos ~ Singer Olamide's Take" by Mauri Yambo

Jua Cali's simply 'rides roughshod' over and across the "raw and the cooked" slices of the cityscape. One senses that he is, that he feels, so much a part of the scene that he cannot 'hide' or peel off any part of it without concealing or stripping down his own Genge self. He celebrates all that his city (and he) stands for -- warts and all. Not necessarily a bad thing, either.

You be the judge.


PS: Nairobi has been a favorite city for Congolese musicians for decades. It has always been requited love, going back at least to the beginning of the Sixties. Here's what Phiona Okumu, one of the co-authors of "Songs About Cityscapes", said about Nairobi's attractiveness to Congolese musicians:

"When Congo's economy nosedived [in the late-Seventies] and Kinshasa's once-thriving music industry fell to ruin as a result, many of its music performers and producers migrated to cities like Nairobi where the demand for Congolese bands was high, as were the prospects for a decent living."

PDF: KAP as a Model of Behavior Change and Innovative Practice

KAP As a Model of Behavior Change and Innovative Practice

Prof. Mauri Yambo

University of Nairobi.

[First Published: March 1, 2016]

Click this link to access the paper

PDF: Top 15 Happiest Songs By/Feat African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

Top 15 Happiest Songs By/Feat African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection {PDF Version}

By Mauri Yambo ~ February 16, 2017




Click on this Link to Get to The Introduction and List of Top 15 Songs By/Feat African Divas of 2010, Which Was First Published on February 16, 2017

PDF: George Simmel: The Essence of His Conflict Theory

George Simmel: The Essence of His Conflict Theory

By Mauri Yambo


Paper First Posted on August 26, 2015. Click on this Link To Get the PDF Version