As a performer, Awilo Longomba hardly ever disappoints those who have become attached to his musical persona. Not in his vocal delivery. Not in his body texts. Not in his energy output. And not in the totality of his performance. In Esopi Yo, he delivers an exquisite act on a finely crafted set. The singing is mellow, the music superbly pitched. The ambience, inside a veritable 'chateau' somewhere in McCain's Arizona, is pure sapeurisme. The ebb and flow of body texts is haute art in motion.
WATCH: Video of Esopi Yo
And, yes, there's Tiwa Savage (Queen Tiwa), charming and as cool as ever. The Lady can play, and this time chooses to accentuate it all with a word-play involving a string of iconic memes: Toku Toku, Waka Waka, Tok Tok, Sabi Sabi (check out the lyrics here), She could easily have added some of these: Ndombolo, Wololo, Mama Toto, Mama Mboga, Mambo Poa, Duku Duku, Hakuna Matata and Boda Boda. Perhaps next time. She sings like we imagine angels do, and everybody's just having a great time.
READ: Fisayo Okare's rendition of the driving message in Esopi Yo.
A number of celebrities join the select group of guests making a cameo appearance in the set, including Davido and Tekno.
WATCH: Video of Esopi Yo
And, yes, there's Tiwa Savage (Queen Tiwa), charming and as cool as ever. The Lady can play, and this time chooses to accentuate it all with a word-play involving a string of iconic memes: Toku Toku, Waka Waka, Tok Tok, Sabi Sabi (check out the lyrics here), She could easily have added some of these: Ndombolo, Wololo, Mama Toto, Mama Mboga, Mambo Poa, Duku Duku, Hakuna Matata and Boda Boda. Perhaps next time. She sings like we imagine angels do, and everybody's just having a great time.
READ: Fisayo Okare's rendition of the driving message in Esopi Yo.
A number of celebrities join the select group of guests making a cameo appearance in the set, including Davido and Tekno.
With the passage of time, and all that it does to social space, Awilo Longomba seems to be rising inexorably toward the pinnacle of Sapeurism -- considering the 'threads of life' that the movement has consciously chosen to pay particular attention to from time to time. For much of his performing life, to be sure, he has epitomized a distinctly contra-Sapeurist idea of refined presence, as we see in the videos referenced below. He has preferred to define fine dressing according to standards consistent with those of his music 'industry' cohorts at home and in the diaspora. However, time seems to be dragging him back to a more enduring sapeurism, rooted in the Congos, which goes back decades and has never really capitulated to passing and 'suffocating' fads. We see tell-tale signs of this prodigal return in the very Esopi Yo set.
WATCH:
1. Awilo Longomba in Carolina II (in 2006) [Or this version, also released in 2006: Karolina ]
2. Awilo Longomba in Cache Cache [This video was supposedly released in 2015 but obviously gives us images from more than a decade ( See Mauri Yambo)]
3. Awilo Longomba in a high-octane Enemy Solo performance with PSquare (2015)
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