MUSIC (DRCongo): It fait Semblant by Sista Becky ft. Innoss'B (2020)

Play Il fait semblant{Video}  

Il fait semblant, sung by Sista Becky and Innoss’B – both from DRC – is an endearing and aurally absorbing find. It endears with its all-embracing air of togetherness and, indeed, of sophistication and elegance; but above all with the physical ease and vocal modulation with which the singers render their art-work. Though we know Sista Becky, at this juncture in her career, far less than we do Innoss’B, both have, it seems to me, contributed equally to grow Africa’s depository of fine musical art with Il fait semblant.  The quality of the song is not diminished by its title, however, which refers to someone faking it; that is, someone pretending to be another sort of character. Innoss'B, it seems, likes to sing about fake love. I don't know what sort of faking irks Sista Becky, however.

            As Sista Becky intimates, the song has an especial dimension to it – a ‘Bantou’ (Bantu) touch. Of course, all Lingala music, all #LingalaPop, is by definition ‘Bantou’. But something counterintuitive stands out in her assertion. The song’s lyrics are mostly written and sung in French. As I don’t speak French, I don’t know how much of the French component is in creole (or pidgin French); but singing in pidgin or broken English has never stopped Nigerian or Ghanaian pop from being #AfroBeats – or indeed Nigerian or Ghanaian music; nor has it stopped #AfroPop, across Africa, from being pop. Indeed, singing isn’t simply about the language in which the lyrics are written or sung...[More]