MUSIC (Nigerian): KJV's voice in Common Sense

In my post on Patoranking's song titled Make Am, I made the remarks that I reiterate below about the distinctive Nigerianness in KJV's song titled "Common Sense". I revisited those arguments in a piece that I later wrote, and in which I sought to pin down with some examples the particular features of what I understood to be The Nigerian Voice --  which I see as such a hugely consequential component an even larger voice: "the African Voice". 

Critics may of course want to be persuaded that there is indeed a unified African Voice, as opposed to a rich montage of Voices. Some may indeed push that argument to what may seem, to them, its logical conclusion. That is, by querying the very notion of a 'single' Nigerian Voice. But I'll soldier on, remembering that in our student days in the US, it was fairly easy to tell a Nigerian's voice apart from other West African voices -- and certainly from East African "ones". 

Here is what I said about KJV's "Common Sense":

"...one of the most attention-grabbing songs out of Nigeria right now (certainly to me), and which I think is distinctly Nigerian and truly accomplished in its vocal heaves and turns -- the kind we other Africans will hear, perhaps in a supermarket or on radio, and quickly say "That's Nigerian" -- is KJV's Common Sense (forget the awkwardly hilarious 'bedroom' shenanigans which we may blame on the story-line, but which might in turn be blamed entirely on a portion of the lyrics). It's such a memorable song."

You can tell from the lyrics (see the link below) that there's a unified theme in the video and the lyrics, and that it is, unsurprisingly, rather frivolous. But that's beside the point I'm making here. I'm talking about form, not content. My attention is more particularly drawn to the vocal (the audio) 'identity' (or markers) of the song that makes it so copiously representative of a genre I've called the Nigerian Voice. 

It is not just the accent, but you can't take accent out of the broader context of the song. Moreover, there is a big and inseparable chunk of it here. It is not just the lyrics, either; but the words are writ and voiced in an indubitably Nigerian tone. All of this is a matter of degree, of course -- between KJV's piece and what we hear in any selection from Olamide, Phyno, Wizkid, Don Jazzy, Davido, Patoranking, Kiss Daniel, Sugarboy, Korede Bello, Timaya and the like. But KJV voice stands out, and it is wondrously heavy-duty and relatively/infectiously 'unvarnished'. Hey, it's neither Ghanaian nor Congolese, nor South African, nor Tanzanian. It's not Kenyan, for sure. Far from it, in fact. And it's not Angolan (if you're thinking of C4Pedro), or Ugandan, or Togolese. It's not Cameroonian, either. Just listen to the singer's vocal rendition of these already very Nigerian lines:

"Jeje I dey eyeh nile alayo

The boys are happy 

And the girls are joyful 

Before you know oya 

We dey my place aha 

She take a selfie 

On top my bently"


Click to watch the Common Sense video

Here are the Lyrics for KJV's Common Sense

As I conclude, I want to say this: I'm sure that Nigerians in London can quickly tell a Nigerian voice when they hear one. In music, KJV's voice is distinctively such a one -- for me at least. Incidentally, KJV is shorthand for King Jiggy Vokal.


READ (for content): Thomas Paine's Letter/Post to Revolutionary Americans about "Common Sense"

VIDEO: Daring Abroad ~ Michael Kitimet, a Top Kenyan Student at U of Richmond, Virginia , USA. #TheChamwadaReport

In this clip of #TheChamwadaReport (click here to watch), we get to learn a little about Michael Kitimet, a top KCSE student from Kenya's Kajiado County, who won an Equity Bank Scholarship (via the Equity Leaders Programme) and so ended up at the University of Richmond, in the state of Virginia, USA. He's pursuing a degree in Mathematics and Economics, and expects to go to graduate school. Hongera Michael Kitimet! You're an inspiration to your peers, and all those who will follow. 

Incidentally, I appear in the clip. But this is only because I happened to be at an Equity banking hall (Kilimani Branch) a few weeks ago (on March 13th to be precise) when a cameraman walked in, set up his gear and began to shoot. And not so randomly, either. 

I'm the guy at the counter, fleetingly, at Minute 7:19 to 7:22. But who am I not to savour the moment in hindsight? It's my wife who happened to see me on TV one recent evening and shouted: "That's you!", drawing my attention to the screen. But I was gone when I looked up. Today I decided to search for the footage  -- and found it. There are lovely glimpses of Kajiado, you'll see. And you get to see Michael's determined and untiring mom. You'll also see the secondary school that Michael went to.

CONCEPT: Resilience

Resilience: This refers to a capacity for, or degree of, hardiness or self-renewal observable in a variety of organisms, species-types or systems when confronted with disturbances, attacks emanating from their environments, or from within them. Resilience does not mean freedom from disturbance or attack or change, but rather that the organism or entity so challenged has the capacity or ingenuity to survive and recover from them -- or to adjust and adapt. It does so using resources from within itself, or from a broadly conceived environment. 

Resilient entities and systems are thus to be understood as sufficiently adaptable, durable and/or innovative when confronted with even extreme stress. They are not necessarily stable and unchanging regardless of the challenges (see, for example, Burnes, 2000: 206). 

Here below is a useful definition of resilience from ICLEI (= Local Governments for Sustainability). It is written with specific reference to the idea of a 'Resilient City' in today's context of climate change, but is in many ways generic in its applications:

"A 'Resilient City' is prepared to absorb and recover from any shock or stress while maintaining its essential functions, structures, and identity as well as adapting and thriving in the face of continual change. Building resilience requires identifying and assessing hazard risks, reducing vulnerability and exposure, and lastly, increasing resistance, adaptive capacity, and emergency preparedness" (see ICLEI)

READ: Program for Resilient Cities 2018

CONCEPT: Triage

Triage: Sometimes called surgical triage (see Perrin, 1996: 226-232), triage has been defined as the “classification of the injured... undertaken by medical or paramedical personnel on site on the bases of seriousness of the injury and the chances of recovery" (UNDRO, 1984: 63-64). Likewise, WHO points out that "The underlying principle of triage is allocation or resources in a manner ensuring the greatest health benefits for the greatest number". 

As a principle, triage gives care givers, in situations of widespread trauma and shortage of care, the power and authority to decide who will be given available medication or surgery or other kind of help ( first or at all) and who will not -- based on their professional assessment of the course(s) of action that will do the most good. Thus, if they determine that a person is dying anyway, they may choose to withhold further medication. This principle extends to deciding, for example, who in a danger zone (or war zone, or sinking ship, or refugee camp) will be evacuated first, and who will have to wait; who, in a famine situation, will be fed first, or at all, and who will not.

The humanitarian community has been accused of being slow to translate that principle (or concept) into firm standards for classifying injuries and prioritizing the injured for emergency medical care. However, attempts have been made to rectify this. 
Indeed, during the 1980 earthquake in Algeria's El Asnam region, for example, four triage categories were adopted to prioritize medical care for the victims -- under conditions of severe supplies, HR and facilities constraints. 

Ranked by assessed need for urgent attention, these now iconic categories were specified as follows: 
1) Vital organs affected; 
2) Serious injuries which, after 'adequate' first aid (given by nurses and trained volunteers, under "general supervision"), could wait for up to 12 hours for an operation; 
3) Hopeless cases "needing comfort as much as treatment"; and 
4) Slightly injured persons whose fretting and noisy demand for attention might cause panic within the triage facility or camp (UNDRO, 1984: 63-4).  

READ: Pierre Perrin (1996) Handbook on War and Public Health. Geneva: ICRC


Updated: March 31, 2018

CONCEPT: Deforestation

Deforestation: This refers to the widespread and long-term loss of tree-cover generally and mapped forest-zones in particular. Deforestation is accelerating in many places around the world, largely due to growing human populations and the unrestrained use, and even plunder, of forest resources for household use and commercial purposes. 

Among these uses and purposes, as Sheila Reed (1992: 102-115) has pointed out, are: farming, livestock grazing, firewood collection and logging. With growing human populations, it is clear to see, home-building will plays an increasingly negative role in deforestation as well. 

Reed classifies deforestation as one of four forms of environmental hazards, with the other three being: environmental pollution, desertification and pest infestation. More concerning, of course, is the fact that large-scale or widespread deforestation is itself the cause of other actual or potential hazards and disasters. 

These observable consequences, and their conceivable second- and third-order effects, include: (a) landslides in areas where the soil is destabilized by the loss of its tree-cover, (b) drought, which often triggers famine, (c) famine, (d) desertification, (e) fires, resulting from the dryness which follows the loss of moisture previously preserved and protected by decades and centuries of tree-cover, and (f) 'severity of flooding' potentially exacerbated by greater sedimentation along river beds following the 'deforestation of watersheds'. 

Rather surprisingly, Reed (1992: 104) also asserts that "flooding is the most serious side effect of deforestation". However, this may be true only in the 'short-term'. In the long-run, it is instead the risk of desertification (and the associated loss of farmland and water reservoirs), above all else, that should worry conservationists and food security professionals. 

READ: Mauri Yambo (2008) "The Mau Water Tower"
READ: Mauri Yambo (2009) "Deforestation Threatens the Family Free"
READ: Mauri Yambo (2009) "Kenya: The Shamba System and Deforestation"

East Africa's Top 15 Pop Songs of 2012 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

You will recall that the first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered calendar year 2014. The second list covered 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in covering a few earlier years continued to grow. This interest has now resulted in this 2012 list of East Africa's Top 15 Pop Songs.

The procedure for generating the Top 15 Pop Songs of 2012 derives from the one used for the period 2014-2016. The same criteria have been used this year (January to December 2012) as were used in the very first sets of lists published in 2014 (25 titles), 2015 (40 titles) and 2016 (40 titles).

There is just so much really good lay music out of Africa these days that you sense you are not doing anyone justice by listing less rather than more; but there is a limit to any leeway. The listing task requires more and more meticulous attention because of growing complexity arising from a discernible and laudable burst of creativity up and down sub-Sahara, and with easier and faster online access to artists' creations, and 'the market'. Every region seems to be catching up with the 'pioneers' and demanding attention by sheer activity and flashes of brilliance. No one can sit on their laurels.

The focus of this list is the song, not the singer, with the added requirement that only songs in video form qualify. In addition, the song must broadly fit the standard definition of popular (or pop) music; that is, music in any of these distinct genres, or any combination of them: Benga, Blues, Bongo Flava, Genge, Hip Hop, Kwaito, RnB, Rap, Reggae, Rock, Soukous or Soul. We are not dealing here with gospel, classical or traditional music as usually understood; although borderline cases or creative partial 'fusions' with them will always be considered.

Given that final decisions concerning a year's complete set of lists of songs and their relative rankings are made very late in December, commentary on any specific titles included on a list will ordinarily appear after their release, which must occur very early in the new year. Where possible, you will find selected links to additional comments or information about individual songs. And where it so happens that certain titles appearing on a list had already been reviewed on this blog in the course of tracking the goings-on in the AfroPop world, links to those reviews will of course be provided under the respective titles. 

Finally, as we start browsing and clicking, let's remember that Top 15 is hallowed space. Only the best songs should populate it, in proper order, regardless of country or sex or language or ethnic identity or religion, or race; and here they do. In 'best songs' we include only those songs in which the singers have made patently creative use of those elements that characterize all music (of which pop is an integral part) in order to give them (the songs) superior appeal to the average or accomplished ear. These elements are: Tone, melody, harmony, beat, rhythm, pitch, audibility, tempo, and the visual impact. You may also distill these elements into VSO -- that is Voice, (instrumental) Sound and Optics -- or, more traditionally and broadly, audio-visual.

Pop music is 'popular' in the sense that it resonates with large publics, in their present (or day-to-day, or contemporary) circumstances. If it is not pop, it is traditional in orientation, and thus locked in, and into, the past. Over time, it is important to realize, day-to-day begins inexorably to provide a break with what we may call the past. This is distinctly the case in multicultural environments, or the 'melting pots' of deep-urban localities.

As already pointed out, #TheYamboSelection rates only music videos. The point here is that an artist who does not release the video version of a song is simply not ready for big time with that song. Fans nowadays want to see what's going on with the artiste and his or her 'band' while the song is sung. Today's pop scene, it seems obvious, is inescapably audio-visual. Sound quality matters, exceedingly; and so does the quality of the visual dimension. And let's not forget that the production of a video is a cooperative venture between the artiste(s) and the video director/producer. The latter do deserve credit too when things go really right.

Success demands that the audio-visual challenge be simultaneously attacked from two perspectives: (a) From the performance perspective, the artiste's obligation is to produce the vocals, the lyrics and the dance or 'stage' routines (the 'body text') that together signify, accentuate or enhance his or her persona in the eyes and ears of the fans; and, (b) From the recording perspective, both the sounds (in all their permutations and combinations) and the visuals are technically the responsibility of the cinematographer and/or the video director/producer.

The artiste must therefore choose very carefully, and it costs a tidy sum to commit the people who can produce a video of high technical and artistic quality. Indeed, as directors such as Clarence Peters, Justin Campos, MattMax, C.A.R.D.O.S.O and Moe Musa know -- and as those who know their work do too -- the task of directing/producing a winning music video is not merely a technical challenge but a demanding creative-artistic one as well. This does of course rope in the actors and the artistes, as everything visual converges on the set. Certainly, the dancing and other forms of acting must be well choreographed for the camera and synchronized with the song, even if the sound of a particular single or track comes to the set pre-recorded.

The naming of more than one hit inevitably prompts the question as to which hit comes first, and which next or last. Sometimes, all too often perhaps, there are ties which must be broken and songs which must thus, regrettably, be excluded. The more valued the list, the greater the regret all around.

In selecting and ranking Africa's Top songs -- limited to Sub-Sahara as already indicated -- the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score) have served as a guide (and thus an otherwise altogether qualitative proposition is tempered with a known procedure):

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 or choreographic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color (dis)play.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single/track, 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 between songs.

In addition to the six criteria, the maximum number of listed titles under which an artist may be indicated as the lead singer in a given year is firmly restricted to three; but there is no limit to the number of times an artist may feature or make cameo appearances in listed songs or videos.

ALSO READ: Trace TV Video Selection Criteria 

LIST OF EAST AFRICA'S TOP 15 POP SONGS OF 2012 ~ #TYS

[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]

15. Stella Stella Stella by Stella Mwangi (2012):

14. Kitu Kimoja by Avril (2012):

13. Kesho by Diamond Platnumz (2012):

12. Money Lover by Sauti Sol (2012):

11. Kata by Navio (2012):

10. Matapeli by Jaguar (2012):

9. Can't Let You Go by Radio and Weasel (2012):

8. Viuno Tucheze by Shilole ft. Kitokololo x Rich Mavoko (2012):

7. Feel No Pain by Camp Mulla (2012):

6. Nishike by Sauti Sol (2012):

5. Siri Ya Penzi by Shaa (2012):

4. I Wanna Get Paid by Pah One ft. Shrekeezy (2012):

3. Mpita Njia by Alicios ft. Juliana (2012):

2. Shut It Down by Stella Mwangi (2012):

1. Fantastic by Radio ft. Weasel (2012):

Africa's Top 15 Happiest Songs of 2012 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

You will recall that the first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered calendar year 2014. The second list covered 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in covering a few earlier years continued to grow. This interest has now resulted in this 2012 list of Africa's Top 15 Happiest Songs. The procedure for generating the list of Top 15 Happiest Songs for the year 2012 derives from the one used for the period 2014-2016.

There is just so much really good lay music out of Africa these days that you sense you are not doing anyone justice by listing less rather than more; but there is a limit to any leeway. The listing task requires more and more meticulous attention because of growing complexity arising from a discernible and laudable burst of creativity up and down sub-Sahara, and with easier and faster online access to artists' creations, and 'the market'. Every region seems to be catching up with the 'pioneers' and demanding attention by sheer activity and flashes of brilliance. No one can sit on their laurels.

The focus of this list is the song, not the singer, with the added requirement that only songs in video form qualify. In addition, the song must broadly fit the standard definition of popular (or pop) music; that is, music in any of these distinct genres, or any combination of them: Benga, Blues, Bongo Flava, Genge, Hip Hop, Kwaito, RnB, Rap, Reggae, Rock, Soukous or Soul. We are not dealing here with gospel, classical or traditional music as usually understood; although borderline cases or creative partial 'fusions' with them will always be considered.

Given that final decisions concerning the complete list of Top Songs and their relative rankings are made very late in December, detailed commentary on the leading titles could not be assured prior to the release of the list, which must occur very early in the new year. Any reviews that follow the publication of this Top 15 list will be published on this blog or elsewhere. 

Finally, as we start browsing and clicking, let's remember that only the best songs should populate the series of lists in #TheYamboSelection, in proper order, regardless of country or sex or language or ethnic identity or religion, or race; and here they do. In 'best songs' we include only those songs in which the singers have made patently creative use of those elements that characterize all music (of which pop is an integral part) in order to give them (the songs) superior appeal to the average or accomplished ear. These elements are: Tone, melody, harmony, beat, rhythm, pitch, audibility, tempo, and the visual impact. You may also distill these elements into VSO -- that is Voice, (instrumental) Sound and Optics -- or, more traditionally and broadly, audio-visual.

Pop music is 'popular' in the sense that it resonates with large publics, in their present (or day-to-day, or contemporary) circumstances. If it is not pop, it is traditional in orientation, and thus locked in, and into, the past. Over time, it is important to realize, day-to-day begins inexorably to provide a break with what we may call the past. This is distinctly the case in multicultural environments, or the 'melting pots' of deep-urban localities.

As already pointed out, #TheYamboSelection rates only music videos. The point here is that an artist who does not release the video version of a song is simply not ready for big time with that song. Fans nowadays want to see what's going on with the artiste and his or her 'band' while the song is sung. Today's pop scene, it seems obvious, is inescapably audio-visual. Sound quality matters, exceedingly; and so does the quality of the visual dimension. And let's not forget that the production of a video is a cooperative venture between the artiste(s) and the video director/producer. The latter do deserve credit too when things go really right.

Success demands that the audio-visual challenge be simultaneously attacked from two perspectives: (a) From the performance perspective, the artiste's obligation is to produce the vocals, the lyrics and the dance or 'stage' routines (the 'body text') that together signify, accentuate or enhance his or her persona in the eyes and ears of the fans; and, (b) From the recording perspective, both the sounds (in all their permutations and combinations) and the visuals are technically the responsibility of the cinematographer and/or the video director/producer.

The artiste must therefore choose very carefully, and it costs a tidy sum to commit the people who can produce a video of high technical and artistic quality. Indeed, as directors such as Clarence Peters, Justin Campos, MattMax, C.A.R.D.O.S.O and Moe Musa know -- and as those who know their work do too -- the task of directing/producing a winning music video is not merely a technical challenge but a demanding creative-artistic one as well. This does of course rope in the actors and the artistes, as everything visual converges on the set. Certainly, the dancing and other forms of acting must be well choreographed for the camera and synchronized with the song, even if the sound of a particular single or track comes to the set pre-recorded.

The naming of more than one hit inevitably prompts the question as to which hit comes first, and which next or last. Sometimes, all too often perhaps, there are ties which must be broken and songs which must thus, regrettably, be excluded. The more valued the list, the greater the regret all around.

In selecting and ranking Africa's Top Songs -- limited to Sub-Sahara as already indicated -- the following six criteria (each on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the highest score) have served as a guide (and thus an otherwise altogether qualitative proposition is tempered with a known procedure):

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 or choreographic quality of the audio-visual product, in terms of: harmony, tone, melody, rhythm, beat and color (dis)play.
6. Based on the foregoing, how the entire single/track, 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 between songs.

In addition to the six criteria, the maximum number of listed titles under which an artist may be indicated as the lead singer in a given year is firmly restricted to three; but there is no limit to the number of times an artist may feature or make cameo appearances in listed songs or videos.

READ: Trace TV Video Selection Criteria

LIST OF AFRICA'S TOP 15 HAPPIEST SONGS OF 2012 ~ #TYS
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]

15. Kesho by Diamond Platnumz (2012):

14. "Yes/No" by Banky W. (2012):                                                 

13. Money Lover by Sauti Sol (2012):

12. Kata by Navio (2012):

11. Can't Let You Go by Radio and Weasel (2012):

10. Viuno Tucheze by Shilole ft. Kitokololo x Rich Mavoko (2012):

9. Feel No Pain by Camp Mulla (2012):

8. Siri Ya Penzi by Shaa (2012):

7. Ekuro by Davido (2012):

6. Pili Pili by Awilo Longomba (2012):

5. I Wanna Get Paid by Pah One ft. Shrekeezy (2012):

4. Like to Party by Burna Boy (2012):

3. Shut It Down by Stella Mwangi (2012):
Click here t read a review of Shut it Down

2. Oyi Remix by Flavour Ft. Tiwa Savage (2012):
Click here to read a review of Oyi Remix

1. Fantastic by Radio ft. Weasel (2012):

Click to read a review of Fantastic

CONCEPT: Logistics

Logistics: This is the art and science of moving, transporting and/or delivering things (material, hardware, equipment or supplies), services or even people across geographical space. Crucial considerations here include: efficiency, coordination, timeliness, security and cost; or, in general, the appropriateness of the means in relation to the mission. Vehicular breakdown and safety of passage are, likewise, always a twin-concern requiring management's 'unblinking' attention and capacity for effective response and even 'networked' intervention.

To have good logistics, you must in the first place have clarity of purpose and a good strategy to realize it. Otherwise, whatever carriers and other transportation resources, routes, personnel or passion and related communication mechanisms that you may have will be of little avail. Thus, the adage that "if you don't know where you're going, you won't get there" tells us less than half the truth. You must have the means (of necessity dependable) to get there, as well. As a minimum, then, strategy should be based on a robust form of  SWOT analysis or its equivalent. In, a robust and pro-active 'supply chain management' system is a necessity for consistent success.

Partly driven by considerations of security (against international terrorism, in particular, as well as piracy) and of efficiency, logistics and IoT have increasingly become intertwined in 'heavy-duty' commercial shipping around the world. In hindsight, one can see that IoT was always implicit in both commercial (for example, in the worldwide cargo-delivery 'transactions' of FedEx and DHL) and humanitarian airfreight (for example in UNHCR and Red Cross operations). It was even there, in its 'infancy', in passenger air-travel -- and most pronounced in long-haul flight. 

But there has been, through it all, a periodically morphing sort of reverse 'cultural lag' (see, also, Godin) here -- between a 'driving' adaptive culture (that is, growing safety and security concerns and needs) and a 'responding' material culture (for example, as alluded to already, the technologies required to give assurance of passenger and shipping-line security). Quaintly, the intuitive tail was wagging the material dog here. With recent advances, however,  IoT's value-proposition has caught up with the need (the demand) for it. This proposition has indeed become more and more explicit and even routine in its effect.

CONCEPT: Indicators

Indicators: These are any measures, yardsticks, benchmarks, milestones or ‘proxies’ (quantitative and/or qualitative) used to document or represent (to stand for) or measure/'signal' the magnitude or attainment/achievement of an otherwise elusive target (or goal), event, phenomenon, problem or process. 

An indicator is a sign/signal or specification of status along a range of possible status-points -- which are in turn encapsulated in a specific standard or 'basket' of standards. 

Standards are the qualitative targets, goals or ideals pursued, or aspired for, in specific fields of human endeavour (see The Sphere Project, 2004: 28-42)

Top 10 Popular Posts on The Mauri Yambo Blog, Last 30 Days ~ Released March 27th, 2018

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• 2. Subscribe to The Mauri Yambo Blog By Email
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East Africa's Top 25 Pop Songs of 2015 ~ #TheYamboSelection

I. INTRODUCTION

This is the second annual edition of #TheYamboSelection, presenting several segments of East Africa's Top 40 Pop Songs of 2015.  This particular segment lists the Top 25. The same criteria were used for 2015 as for 2014 to select and rank the best songs out of those released or published during the year, and which were accessible in video form for this purpose. However, the final list has grown from 25 in 2014 to 40 in 2015. 

There is just so much really good lay music out of Africa these days that you sense you are not doing anyone justice by listing less rather than more; but there is a limit to any leeway. The listing task requires more and more meticulous attention  because of growing complexity arising from a discernible and laudable burst of creativity up and down sub-Sahara, and with easier and faster online access to artists' creations, and 'the market'. Every region seems to be catching up with the 'pioneers' and demanding attention by sheer activity and flashes of brilliance. No one can sit on their laurels.

The focus of the lists released under #TheYamboSelection is the song, not the singer. There is an added requirement: that only songs in video form qualify. In addition, any song under consideration must broadly fit the standard definition of popular (or pop) music. 

The main sources of the songs considered for listing are the music channels hosted by DSTV: Trace Urban (now split into Trace Mziki and Trace Naija), MTV Base, AfroPop, HipTV and Sound City. Certainly, YouTube is very important in this exercise. It is actively searched to expand the pool of qualifying clips, and relied upon for online links to the songs specifically listed below. YouTube is indeed a vital, but far from 'straightforward', resource in regard to the curating of clips not necessarily or frequently featured on the specified TV channels.

READ: The Full Introduction and Selection Criteria
READ: Africa's Top 25 Songs of 2014


II. THE LIST OF E. AFRICA'S TOP 25 POP SONGS OF 2015
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]


25. Malele by Shilole (2015):

24. Nudahinduka by Aime Bluestone (2015):

23. Two of Dem by Victoria Kimani (2015):

22. Hotter by Wyre ft. Khaligraph Jones (2015):

21. Sibyo by Kitoko + Meddy (2015):

20. BougerLe by Akothee (2016):

19. Haina Budi by Eko Dydda (2015):

18. Aya Yaa by Abdu Kiba ft. Ruby (2015):

17. Ooh Lala Oui Oui by Yvonne D'arq ft. Victoria Kimani (2015):

16. Nerea by Sauti Sol ft. Amos x Josh (2015):

15. Nobody But Me by Vanessa Mdee ft. K.O (2015):

14. Kidawa by Izzo Bizness ft. Shaa (2015):

13. Toba by Shaa (2015):

12. Baby Don't Go by Muthoni The Drummer Queen and Khuli Chana (2015):

11. Love Phobic by H_ART THE BAND (2015):
Click here to read comment

10. Shake Yo Bam Bam by Sauti Sol (2015):
Click here to read comment

9. Game by Navy Kenzo ft. Vanessa Mdee (2015):

8. Ihale  by Susumila (2015):
Click here to read comment

7. Sijazoea by AT (2015):
Click here to read comment

6. Take it Slow by Zikki ft. Jaguar (2015):
Click here to read comment

5. So Good by Eddy Kenzo (2015):

4. Kaunyaka by Chege + Mh Temba ft. Dj Maphorisa (2015):

3. Chekecha Cheketua by Alikiba (2015):

2. Never Ever by Vanessa Mdee (2015):

1. Nana by Diamond Platnumz ft. Mr. Flavour (2015):
READ: Diamond Platnumz's bioinfo

Africa's Top 20 Happiest Songs of 2015 ~ #TheYamboSelection

I. INTRODUCTION

You cannot do as they do in Nana, Reggae Blues, Enemy Solo, Kaunyaka, Sukus and all the rest -- all of which have the halo and the tone and the body text of happiness -- and not be happy yourself inside, and outside; if only for a brief 3 to 4+ minutes of magic. That's all I want to say here, for now, about all the lovely offerings listed below -- and about which we can talk endlessly about. 

This is the second annual edition of Africa's Top 20 Happiest Songs of The Year. It covers only songs released in 2015.

READ: Africa's 25 Happiest Songs of The Year, 2014

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, inside one body.

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). Happy songs breed happiness through the joyfulness of their words (and through their inner soulfulness which flavors the words and nurtures the very joyfulness). 

Happy songs move us as well by means of the melody in the tunes, the liveliness of the body's texts and the suppleness of the assembled 'bodies'. And they win us over with the harmony of the charged instruments, the pulsating visuals of the video clip, and the warmth of the stage and the body-politic 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's song, too, you bet, in what Dawkins has called The Magic of Reality. And in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, we find, Duke Orsino utters these immortal words, which I want to endorse here:

"If music be the food of life, play on; / Give me excess of it ..." 


If good music be what it is, thus, let it be. Give me more, is all I should say! There are times, if I may digress, that I have thought (sensed would be too strong a word) that a truly throbbing drumbeat among the prayerful carries within it the voice of God in its surreal, surround going, 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 (is it true) that music videos that elicit the most happiness seem generally to have a street motif; and if not, then grudgingly a theatrical setting? Is it perhaps because there are no other actionable options?


II. MEASURING HAPPINESS:

Can happiness be measured? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Perhaps, which is what I want to go with, yes -- but not too well.
Still, we have endeavored to do so here. For the selection and ranking criteria used in creating this list, click here.


III. LIST AND RANKING OF AFRICA's TOP 20 HAPPIEST SONGS OF 2015:
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]


20. The Banger by Runtown ft. Uhuru (2015):

19. Gaara by Brain (2015):

18. Favorite Song by Skalled (2015):
The video is no longer in circulation.

17. Aiye Mi by El Phlex ft. OritseFemi (2015):
Click here to read comment

16. JantaManta by Mavins (2015):

15. Take it Slow by Zikki ft. Jaguar (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 146,973
Click here to read comment

14. Igbeyawo by OritseFemi (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 213,718
Click here to read comment

13. Don't Stop by Olamide (2015):

12. Shower Me by Jumabee ft. Cynthia Morgan (2015):
Click here to read comment

11. Feel Alright by DJ Kaywise ft. Ice Prince, Mugeez, Patoranking (2015): 

10. Taking Over Me by Yemi Alade ft. Phyno (2015):


9. Be With Me by Addiction (2015):

8. Ebelebe by Tee tee (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 920
Click here to read comment

7. Sexy Rosey By Mr. Flavour ft. P-Square (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 3,245,677

6. So Good by Eddy Kenzo (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

5. Sukus by OritseFemi ft. Harry Song (2015):

4. Kaunyaka by Chege + Mh Temba ft. Dj Maphorisa (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

3. Enemy Solo by Awilo Longomba ft. P-Square (2015):
YouTube views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 2,097,063

2. Reggae Blues by Harrysong ft. Olamide + Iyanya + Kcee + Orezi 015)
Click here to read comment on this song

1. Nana by Diamond Platnumz ft. Mr. Flavour (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song
READ: Diamond Platnumz's bioinfo


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
READ: World Happiness Report 2015
ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion" that I posted on December 9, 2008

Africa's Top 20 Pop Songs of 2015 ~ #TheYamboSelection

I. INTRODUCTION

The list provided below is an excerpt of the second annual edition of #TheYamboSelection. It presents only the Top 20 Pop out of the full list of Africa's Top 40 Pop Songs of 2015. The same criteria have been used this year (2015) as were used last year to select and rank the best songs out of those released or published during the year. However, the final list has grown from 25 last year to 40 in 2015. 

There is just so much really good lay music out of Africa these days that you sense you are not doing anyone justice by listing less rather than more; but there is a limit to any leeway. The listing task requires more and more meticulous attention  because of growing complexity arising from a discernible and laudable burst of creativity up and down sub-Sahara, and with easier and faster online access to artists' creations, and 'the market'. Every region seems to be catching up with the 'pioneers' and demanding attention by sheer activity and flashes of brilliance. No one can sit on their laurels.

The focus of this list is the song, not the singer, with the added requirement that only songs in video form qualify. In addition, the song must broadly fit the standard definition of popular (or pop) music.


CLICK HERE For the Full Introduction and Selection Criteria
ALSO READ: Africa's Top 25 Songs of 2014


II. THE LIST AND RANKING OF AFRICA'S TOP 20 POP SONGS OF 2015
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the record, the latest number of YouTube views per song is given under each of the Songs numbered 40 down to 11. The data were captured during a two-hour period (2:20 - 4:26 p.m.) on December 31, 2015. This post was published just over one hour later, at 5:35 p.m. One can use the figures as baselines for the respective songs, which can be tracked over time for a number of reasons. The Top 10 have their own respective baselines, as shown above. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20. Laye by Kiss Daniel (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 2,809,191

19. Don't Stop by Olamide (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 260,863

18. Bestie by D'Prince x Don Jazzy x Baby Fresh (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 250,361
Click here to read comment

17. Take it Slow by Zikki ft. Jaguar (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 146,973
Click here to read comment

16. She Need Am by Cheezy Chi (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 1,269

15. Soweto Baby by DJ Maphorisa ft. Wizkid (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 217,054

14. Sexy Rosey By Mr. Flavour ft. P-Square (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 3,245,677

13. Igbeyawo by OritseFemi (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 213,718
Click here to read comment

12. Soke by Burnaboy (2015):
Views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 1,043,602
Click here to read comment

11. Enemy Solo by Awilo Longomba ft. P-Square (2015):
YouTube views on record just prior to the publication of of this post: 2,097,063

10. So Good by Eddy Kenzo (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

9. Melo Melo by Olamide (2015):

Click here to read comment on this song

8. Kaunyaka by Chege + Mh Temba ft. Dj Maphorisa (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

7. Chekecha Cheketua by Alikiba (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

6. Muita Areia by C4 Pedro ft. Big Nelo + Kaysha (Video ft. Rlynda) (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

5. Never Ever by Vanessa Mdee (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

4. Fakosi by Sun X ft. Timaya (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song

3. Reggae Blues by Harrysong ft. Olamide + Iyanya + Kcee + Orezi 015)
Click here to read comment on this song

2. Nana by Diamond Platnumz ft. Mr. Flavour (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song
READ: Diamond Platnumz's bioinfo

1. King Kong Remix by Vector, Phyno, Reminisce, Classiq and Uzi (2015):
Click here to read comment on this song