MUSIC: Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril

Play Chokoza  {video}
[Kenya]

Chokoza is a 2010 song, if you remember how or what Nairobi was like then; but I'm still asking myself whether it really shows or if it’s merely a figment. Everyone alive then, and now, was 10 years younger, of course, as you can see in Marya's face, and in Avril's. You can see it in their body texts as well, and hear it in their slang and their overall vocabulary, as well as the more specific memes that they pick and use so seamlessly. They're still, here in this song, in the precarious and multi-faceted girls-to-women transition -- more than one transition perhaps.

It took me more than half of the 2010s, I think,  to find out that Chokoza even existed. It was something of a surprise when I did, given what I'd already written about African music, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) -- that 2010 blockbuster by Shakira and Friends -- and the world.

Chokoza is an interesting song, even if it stands distinctly now as a period-piece. Remember that it came out just months after, and not before, that watershed Vuvuzela World Cup hosted with such memorable hospitality and passion by South Africa.

What is most important to remember is that the girl Avril had great potential and detectable skills even then -- when the future for the African artist was far less clear-cut and promising than it is today. And so had Marya, but I wonder what ever happened to her. I just don't remember seeing her in another song since. Perhaps I just haven't looked around enough, or long enough.

Looking at Chokoza now, let me say this as I conclude: Times have really and truly changed since 2010 -- both for the African artiste and the music ecosystem within which he or she operates -- and so much for the better.

Watch: Avril and Naiboi in this 2020 song, Weka

Africa's Top 15 Pop Songs of 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

You will recall that the first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only 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. That interest has now resulted in this 2010 list of Africa's Top 15 Pop Songs, which appears below. This is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details.

LIST OF AFRICA'S TOP 15 POP SONGS OF 2010 ~ #TYS
[To watch the video clip of a Song, you may have to Right Click the Song's Song's title and then choose the "Open link in new window" option]


15. Kamasutra by Ferre Gola (2010):

14. Holla at Your Boy by Wizkid (2010):

13. Djarabi by Barbara Kanam (2010):

12. Say Ho by Yola Semedo (2010):

11. Give It to Me by D'Prince ft. D'Banj (2010):

10. Logique by Koffi Olomide (2010):

9. Queen by Longombas (2010):

8. Fall In Love by D'Banj (ft. Genevieve) (2010):

7. Ko Ma Roll by Mo' Cheddah (2010):

6. Robot by Koffi Olomide (2010):

5. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

4. Mr. Endowment by D'Banj (2010):

3. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

2. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy Le Coeur (2010):

1. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

Click here to read a review of this iconic Waka Waka song
Click here for BB Dj's rendition of Waka Waka (2009)

Africa's Top 20 Pop Songs of 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

You will recall that the first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only 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. That interest has now resulted in this 2010 list of Africa's Top 20 Pop Songs, which appears below.  This is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details.

LIST OF AFRICA'S TOP 20 POP SONGS OF 2010 ~ #TYS
[To watch the video clip of a Song, you may have to Right Click the Song's Song's title and then choose the "Open link in new window" option]


20. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

19. Moza Girl by Dama do Bling (2010):

18. Lagos Party by Banky W (2010):

17. Champion Remix by General Pype ft Dagrin x Vector x Naeto C x Sasha x GT (2010):

16. Genge Love by Nonini ft. Lady Bee (2010):

15. Kamasutra by Ferre Gola (2010):

14. Holla at Your Boy by Wizkid (2010):

13. Djarabi by Barbara Kanam (2010):

12. Say Ho by Yola Semedo (2010):

11. Give It to Me by D'Prince ft. D'Banj (2010):

10. Logique by Koffi Olomide (2010):

9. Queen by Longombas (2010):

8. Fall In Love by D'Banj (ft. Genevieve) (2010):

7. Ko Ma Roll by Mo' Cheddah (2010):

6. Robot by Koffi Olomide (2010):

5. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

4. Mr. Endowment by D'Banj (2010):

3. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

2. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy Le Coeur (2010):

1. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

Click here to read a review of this iconic Waka Waka song
Click here for BB Dj's rendition of Waka Waka (2009)

The African Music Industry, Local Content and 24/7 Music Video Programming

In a recent post titled " Waka Waka, Shakira and the Art of the Blockbuster Song", I offered the view that Waka Waka had emerged as an unintended and largely unanticipated catalyst for pop-music artistry and appreciation all across Sub-Sahara. I added that African artistes and fans had, since 2010, watched with surprise and been inspired by how the addition of a few lines had turned an old African song, fused with new and thoughtful tunes as well as creative dance routines, into a music video of global appeal.

However, the buzz around the World Cup could only temporarily wire together national TV channels across Africa. There was no permanent promise in this; and if there wasn't, there would be no long-term change in the pattern of distribution and consumption of music videos. Artistes on their own didn't have the wherewithal to make a difference here. So where was the wherewithal to be found?

Certainly, a general push for local content on national and more local media did not begin in or after 2010, but well before that. TV broadcasting was particularly challenged -- and vexing in its incapacity as far as music lovers were concerned -- as only it could show music video on a continuous and therefore most accommodating basis to a heterogeneous mass audience. The individualized CD and DVD player did become available earlier as an option, but plainly wasn't ever going to create a sense of community (of mass participation) -- such as you get when watching, even when physically alone, a live soccer game. 

When, in 2003, I authored a report on airtime distribution of local and foreign content on East African TV channels (see extract, Television Broadcasting in East Africa...), it signalled the fact that a critical mass of concern around local content already existed, sufficient indeed to elicit research funding in the hope of energizing and pivoting broadcast policy, via actionable evidence, toward local content.

And yet, consequential moves to deliver local TV content -- music video in our particular case -- on a sustained basis are much more recent. I think this is because several components of the requisite formula for sustainable/profitable delivery of local content have only lately become self-evident. First, the local music industry must be fecund enough to produce a certain minimum number of top quality pop videos to sustain a 24/7 music channel at requisite levels of audience enthusiasm and loyalty. 

Assuming that each video or single runs for an average of 3:50 minutes, a minimum of 93 to 95 fully contracted singles is required to launch an all-music channel. The Top 40 East African pop songs ranked in #TheYamboSelection for 2015 and 2016, respectively, amply demonstrate that the minimum requirement has already been met in this region.

Second, the rate at which new singles are uploaded to broadcasters on a monthly basis, as older ones are retained on longer loops or rotations, also matters -- if a channel's offerings are not to go stale, forcing it to revert to foreign alternatives in order to keep or grow audience-share. A monthly rate of 10% new uploads would do at the start.

Third, the subscriber-base must be large enough, and must grow with sufficient robustness to keep the channel in business. This partly depends on the percentage of the population within the catchment area with disposable income.

The means for delivering always-on music entertainment has only recently, almost all of a sudden, begun to take required shape in Africa. It is happening -- in terms of certain platforms or channels -- in plain view, but seemingly unnoticed by the broader media of which the music channels are a 'specialized' part. 

The spread has not been even. There are patches of dense digital coverage, and areas less liberally covered by different channels. There are also areas -- such as Burundi, the two Congos, Ethiopia, Namibia, Somalia and South Sudan -- seemingly with no coverage at all yet. Among these, the two Congos are the most surprising and the most disappointing. All in all, however, Africa has experienced tremendous change since 2010. I draw the outlines of the evolutionary journeys of the most prominent channels below:

DStv: MultiChoice, a South African company, first rolled out a 20-country, analogue TV channel across Africa in 1992. Its Channel O, launched in that year, became very popular with music lovers; but years later succumbed to serious technical and programming challenges. In 1995, MultiChoice adopted a decidedly leap-frog US innovation to successfully introduce a direct-to-home Digital Satellite pay-TV service (DStv) in South Africa. Between 1995 and 2010, it spread its wings to many Sub-Saharan capitals and their catchment-areas, as its bouquet of access-technologies expanded.

READ: A History of DStv

When the World Cup came to Africa in 2010, DStv and its affiliates, as well as their pan-African audiences, were ready -- for really Big Time. Partly by design and partly by default, DStv quickly became the indispensable pipeline through which music video broadcasts were to spread across Sub-Saharan Africa. In this, its owners, MultiChoice, had learnt important lessons from their Channel O venture.

Channel O: As already suggested, Channel O was the oldest, and even now still the longest running, music channel to have operated across Africa. MultiChoice wound it up in 2015, after 23 years of high-profile operation but increasingly outdated service (see Vutagwa, 2015). 

HIP TV: This is a Nigerian channel, mostly devoted to music, which was launched in July 2007. It began offering a 24-hour DStv service only in October 2013, on Channel 324. It is very focused on Nigerian pop music -- emphatically more so than AfroMusicPop. This has not helped it to grow audiences outside Nigeria, as other channels have offered more appealing choice in the wider field. Nor has its broadcast quality endeared it to discerning viewers. But it continues in business.

SOUNDCITY Africa: This channel was launched on DStv network (channel 327) in 2009. Until very recently, its African reach was restricted to West and East Africa. It became available to Southern African audiences, on the same channel, only on December 1st, 2016. The Southern African countries newly in its orbit are: Botswana, Lsotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Spice TV, its sister channel, which broadcasts fashion videos, was simultaneously made available to Southern Africa on that December date, on DStv channel 190.

READ: DStv (November 30, 2016) "Sound City, Spice TV launch."

Though based in Lagos, Nigeria, and owned by a Nigerian Company called Consolidated Media Associates (CMA) Limited, SoundCity Africa is less focused on Nigeria than one sees on AfroMusicPop and HipTV. Its 24/7 portal airs relatively few songs from the rest of Africa, though, despite its touted pan-African orientation. All told, in fact, the general impression, as pointed out below, is that it shows more Western music videos than African on any given day.


Through the link given below we see that, even after its December 2016 "integrated re-brand across Africa" -- dubbed "its biggest ever" -- SoundCity's old inclinations die hard. The airtime weighting of African pop songs clearly favors South African and Nigerian artistes. But artistes from these two countries are in fact overshadowed by a preponderance of videos from the US and the UK. 

There is admittedly a weekly series of Top Ten songs from six countries: South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, UK, US and Nigeria. However, each of the Top Ten rundowns covers only about three hours each week, with the four African countries having a combined total of 12 hours. That is half of a 24-hour day per week for all of them! This is clearly a huge gap of opportunity which the TRACE organization recently exploited and filled so emphatically.

READ: The New #SoundCityAfrica Unveils New Chart Shows, Expands Into New Markets

AfroMusicPop: This TV channel, dedicated to music videos, was originally based in Portugal. It is hosted on DStv channel 326. It pivoted its attention to Nigerian music in April 2013, and has generally offered little hope of exposure for non-Nigerian artistes. Though it has been available to East African audiences, its bias for Nigerian music has fed the narrative that Nigerian pop music, just like Nollywood movies, has little competition across Africa. However, more recently, faced with growing competition for viewers from other pan-African channels, it has begun to be more inclusive -- and in the process contributed to debunking that narrative.

READ: Michael Abimboye (April 18, 2013) "AfroMusicPop channel lists steps for submission of videos"

TRACE TV: Paris-based TRACE TV is majority owned by Modern Times Group (MTG), a Scandinavian media conglomerate, which acquired it in 2014. On September 1st, 2016, DStv admitted three MTG franchises into its fold: TRACE Naija (for Nigeria and the rest of mostly Anglophone West Africa) on channel 325, TRACE Mziki (for Eastern Africa, especially Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya) on channel 323 and TRACE Africa for Anglophone Southern African Audiences on channel 326. 

Awkwardly, however, viewers in East Africa have no access to TRACE Africa, as they have to TRACE Naija. Some evidence suggests that TRACE Naija and TRACE Mziki were actually hived off the original TRACE Urban in September 2016. Incidentally, TRACE Gospel was also made available 24/7 to Kenyan viewers at the same time last year as Zuku Fiber became the second host to TRACE Mziki.

The African regions covered by TRACE have been described by Olivier Laouchez, its CEO, as "the three biggest music hubs of Africa" (see the READ immediately below). Instructively, TRACE TV's motivation for this re-branding, adds Laouchez, was to "better serve the strong need of the local audiences for great local content." 

The wide exposure given to East African artistes by TRACE Mziki has probably been the most phenomenal result of the TRACE initiative. And the continent's consumers have clearly benefited from this sudden access to this surprisingly robust and deep talent pool previously "hidden", by a blend of circumstances, from them. East Africans also need to have access to Southern African music too. Music from Lusophone Africa is even less accessible, certainly to East Africa. For that reason, it appears non-existent to the larger African audience -- despite the fact that TRACE Toca is aired in Angola and Mozambique. Congolese music has been a favorite of East African audiences for some fifty years now, even though few are fluent in either Lingala or French.

READ: "Trace to launch three new music channels in Africa" (August 26, 2016)

TRACE Toca: This pop music video channel was launched on July 22nd, 2014 to cater to the interests and (Afro and Urban) tastes of Lusofonia -- that is, Portuguese-speaking countries. Toca means, inter alia, "to play music, to resonate, to produce a sound..." (see TRACE Toca). 

Among the countries served by the channel are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, the Caribbean, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and Portugal. The dominant musical preferences in these countries, and on TRACE Toca, include these genre's: Kizomba, Kuduro, Zouk, Samba and Afro Pop. For Angola and Mozambique, more specifically, TRACE Toca is available on DStv Channel 595 (see Asuquo, 2014). How the other countries connect to it remains unclear, but seems much more long-winded -- something akin to how 'search-activists' access YouTube videos. 

So, it seems clear, the rest of Africa has no direct TV pipeline to Afro-Lusofone music. Likewise, Lusofonia remains cut off, to possibly detrimental effect, from the burst of creativity that's going on in a much larger expanse of Africa.

MTV Base Africa: MTV Base started its operations in African, as MTV Base Africa, in February 2005. This had followed the launch of its European operations five and a half years earlier, on July 1st, 1999. In December 2007, however, a separate MTV Base operation was hived off the African franchise to cover only Africa's Francophone countries. Both were initially overseen by MTV Base, domiciled in Europe, on behalf of the holding company -- Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Europe. However, VIMN Africa was in recent years created to take charge of MTV operations all across Africa. 

As an umbrella brand, MTV Base is known as a multi-segment, all-music and entertainment channel. It offers the same mix of services, but accommodates some of the lingua francas of the countries it covers. In Africa as a whole, as already pointed out, it operates as MTV Base Africa; and has a presence in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the rest of West Africa. It is hosted on DStv's channel 322.

Initially, "the rest of West Africa" encompassed seventeen Anglophone and Francophone countries (see the full list in the history link below). However, on December 21st, 2007, a branch of MTV Base Africa was created specifically to serve the interests of Francophone West Africa. This branch was renamed MTV Hits in November 2015.

On July 3rd, 2013, MTV Base Africa launched MTV South Africa to provide "opt-out feed" intended to deliver more definitively local content (music and advertising) and service (sponsorship) to South African consumers. The remainder of the feed was to remain the same as on MTV Base Africa. This very convoluted name-changing journey culminated in 2015 with the renaming of MTV Base South Africa as MTV Africa.


READ: A History of MTV Base Africa

TVE - Tanzania: This brand is the product of a well-established Tanzania-based TV channel -- TV East. In December 2016, TVE-Tanzania was launched as a 24/7 all-music channel. It is hosted on DStv channel 295. 

According to Mustapha Madish (2016), TVE-Tanzania is the brainchild of E-FM radio station owners. Their experience with delivering content on radio was crucial to their successful transition to TV (see also this conversation on JamiiForums,com). 

Despite its relatively poorer video quality and its lack of video annotation, TVE - Tanzania has very quickly succeeded in mirroring much of the video offering that one associates with TRACE Mziki.

As I conclude, let me just say this: DStv's pan-African dominance as the go-to host will increasingly be challenged by hosts such as GoTV and Star Times, to mention the most obvious ones, and more local channels such as Kenya's Zuku. South African enterprises venturing into the rest of Africa have had a nagging tendency to throw in the towel when things do heat up. However, conversation around all that will have to be the subject of a separate post.

REFERENCES
Asuquo, E (2014) "TRACE Launches TRACE Toca: A Brand New Music Channel Available in DStv in Angola and Mozambique." TalkmediaAFRICA.com 

Staff Writer (2014) "Timeline: DStv through the years." Johannesburg: ITWeb. 

Trace Mziki Team (2016) Trace TV Video Selection Criteria: Artiste Popularity, Song Popularity, and Video Coolness are Key. HiPipo.Com

Vutagwa, Caroline (March 18, 2015) "MultiChoice's Channel 'O' to shut down this Month." techmoran.com 

Yambo, Mauri (2003) Television Broadcasting in East Africa: Airtime Allocation to Local and Foreign Programmes, January-March 2002. Nairobi: Development Through Media.

Waka Waka, Shakira and the Art of the Blockbuster Song

Year 2010 was a watershed for Africa on several levels. South Africa hosted FIFA World Cup, bringing that global event to Africa for the very first time. That truly festive tournament was of course made more memorable by the ever-present Vuvuzela, which showed just how the 'blow' of an inconspicuous thing could cause an ear-shattering storm of chatter across the globe.  

But here's the thing. The official song, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) didn't just 'kick off' the finals. In hindsight, I think, it also tagged, in a serendipitous but lasting way, the symbolic beginning of the African renaissance in popular music. [There were clearly earlier intimations of a rebirth, as amply demonstrated by the British Museum (2017) -- and birthing can be labored -- but I think that these were at best sneak views of the still to come renaissance]. Indeed, we're increasingly getting to see and feel the song's afterglow as the 2010s move along. If Waka Waka could make it big in that way, so could the artistic creations of Africa's millennials. After all, Waka Waka was an old, familiar song -- originally written in the time of their grandparents.

In 2010, Waka Waka was once again an undeniable communal fest -- but on a global scale. It was a great revival. The seamless tapestry of performers and colors and voices and sounds was a work of art in itself -- offered to an admiring world. Remember: the irrepressible Colombian Diva, Shakira, the impassioned and bubbly South African girl (whose name most of us still don't know), Southern Africa's very own Freshly Ground band, and the colorful and fairy-like dance troupe! They sang and played and danced as one with so much sparkle, there in Johannesburg. 

A few other components of the watershed that we can quickly mention as illustrations include:

1. Year 2010 marked the fortieth anniversary of The Year of Africa (1960). Events for which 1960 is remembered -- vaguely by baby-boomers and more vividly by history and, alas, an ever diminishing number of their living parents -- include a spate of independence celebrations across the continent: Fifteen countries gained their independence; Ghana became a republic (having been declared independent, with the Queen of England as its titular head, in 1957); and armed struggle against apartheid began in South Africa. At forty, you're a grown-up, and should show evidence of it:

a) Out of the 17 "Class of 1960" countries, five were represented at the 2010 FIFA World Cup: Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria and South Africa. Algeria, which became independent in July 1962, was the only other African country at the World Cup.

b) The successful preparations for, and hosting of, the soccer extravaganza were in themselves testimony, in the eyes of the world, that Africa's capacity for large-scale infrastructural development had turned a hugely consequential corner. 

c) The image of Mandela hosting the world in that way was a moving symbolic culmination of the journey for freedom and equity which he and his comrades had begun in 1960.

2. By 2010, cumulative developments in resource-rich African countries and elsewhere, though often 'under the radar' and too slow even for locals, were progressively eroding the world's perception of a poverty-stricken, helpless and hopeless continent with a begging bowl in hand. 

3. There was also perceptibly expanding space for competitive politics and institutions free at last of the worst excesses of unchallenged executive power. The light at the end of the tunnel was certainly getting brighter.

4. There was massive expansion of educational opportunities across much of the continent, and growing space for private enterprise.

5. Perhaps even ahead of Africa itself, world institutions were beginning to routinely point to an emerging African middle class likely in the long run, perhaps, to turn the usual 'pyramid' of economic power and hierarchy into a 'diamond'. 

Enough of that for now.

WATCH: Video of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) [Hear the sounds, see the colors -- and 'read' the accompanying flow of moveable/moving body texts]

And here's the video of BB DJ -- inspired perhaps, as Dibussi Tande (2010) implies, by the spirits of his grandparents -- singing and dancing Waka Waka in 2009, the year before FIFA World Cup.

Shakira's and her co-singer's rendition (remix) of the already famous song was dogged with controversy from the start. First, there was spirited but far from unanimous objection to her choice, a non-South African, as the lead singer. Then there were accusations that she was claiming authorship of a song which wasn't hers. 

Indeed, Tande has noted that Cameroonian soldiers sang this song during World War II -- long before Shakira, or even her mother, was born. Allusions to that history appear in a series of interesting videos (click here to view one such). Even the original title that she had chosen for the World Cup anthem, Zaminamina, tied her back, inextricably, to those Cameroonian roots and the successors of the artistes concerned. Eventually, as Tande reports, a deal, belatedly urged by FIFA as well, was struck between the claimants on the one hand and Shakira and SONY on the other.

Against the backdrop of the accusations, the truth, it turned out, was somewhere in-between. Obviously, Zaminamina, Zangalewa (with a Waka Waka refrain) was, as already noted, an old Cameroonian song. But the song she jointly launched in 2010 was a thing somewhat apart: a fusion of her lyrics (written in English), a dominating chunk of Zangalewa, a lovely twist of South African singing, inspired instrumentation by Freshly Ground, and a dazzling troupe presence. And she tossed into all that her own global brand and star-power. Still, proper attribution was called for.

READ: "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" 


READ/LISTEN: "Cameroon - Zangalewa - Zamina - Waka Waka Time for Africa - Original" 

CLICK: Lyrics for Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)


Despite the controversy, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) has over and over since 2010 proven to be a discernible, if back-handed, boost to the stature of African music, both within and outside the continent. 

WATCH: 
1) Shakira Live from Paris (2016)  
2) Shakira - Waka Waka Live China Concerd HD 

I'm more interested in the 'within', though. And I think that the song has emerged as an unintended, and largely unanticipated, catalyst (of enormous proportions) for pop-music artistry and appreciation all across Sub-Sahara. African artistes and fans have, since 2010, watched with surprise and been inspired by how the addition of a few lines have turned an old African song, fused with new and thoughtful tunes and creative dance routines, into a music video of global appeal. 

Certainly, the World Cup platform gave Waka Waka an unbeatable, world-wide head-start. But keen minds must surely have begun to sense, in this spectacle, continent-wide possibilities for musicians, songwriters, directors and producers -- even after the World Cup. I sense that they indeed have.   


But the 2010 FIFA World Cup's gravitational pull could only temporarily wire together the disparate national TV channels dotting the African continent. There was no permanent promise in this; and if there wasn't, there would be no long-term change in the pattern of distribution and consumption of musical products. Artistes on their own didn't have the wherewithal to make a difference here. 

So where's the wherewithal? The answer to that will have to await a separate post.

I conclude by saying this: In #TheYamboSelection of Africa's top pop songs of the year, so far covering 2010-2016, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) was without a doubt the best song in 2010. One is reminded that it is the songs which are ranked in the annual series, not the singers. Of course, each song has a singer, or singers, but it is the song which forms the basis for the ranking. As already amply argued, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) is undoubtedly an African song, even if the lead singer turns out to be a Colombian Latina, whom we should all embrace with both arms. It goes without saying that Waka Waka was also the year's best song by, or featuring, an African Diva. The song had two Diva's -- Shakira and that unnamed and lovable South African vocalist. I think that singing that heavily African song with the super-talented supporting cast, as Africa hosted the World Cup, made Shakira an African Diva as well, forever, in terms of that song (FIFA's anthem in 2010).

REFERENCES

Tande, Dibussi (May 2010) "Undermining African Intellectual and Artistic Rights: Shakira, Zangalewa and the World Cup Anthem" 

The British Museum (March 3, 2017) "Stream 8,000 Vintage Afropop Recordings". London: The British Museum

WFMU...Blog (March 2, 2010) "Around the World...Waka Waka Hey Hey!"



UPDATED: March 3-6, 2017

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

Top 10 Happiest Songs By/Featuring East African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. 

That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Top 10 happiest pop songs by/featuring East African Divas in 2010. But this is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF TOP 10 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT EAST AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

10. Crazy Over You by KLynn ft. Squeezer  (2010):

9. Kings and Queens by AY ft. Jokate x Amani (2010):

8. Mahaba Dhati by Ray C (2010):

7. Shoga by Shaa (2010):

6. Swing Swing by Kleptomaniax (2010):

~~~~~~
5. Sunshine by Nameless ft. Habida (2010):

4. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

3. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

2. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

1. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

Top 5 Happiest Songs By/Featuring East African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. 

That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Top 5 happiest pop songs by/featuring East African Divas in 2010. But this is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF TOP 5 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT EAST AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

5. Sunshine by Nameless ft. Habida (2010):

4. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

3. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

2. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

1. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

Top 15 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. 

That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Top 15 happiest pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2010. But this is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF TOP 15 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

15. Mrembo wa Africa (African Diva) by Daz Baba (2010):

14. Shoga by Shaa (2010):

13. Swing Swing by Kleptomaniaxx (2010):

~~~~~
12. Sunshine by Nameless ft. Habida (2010):

11. Vai Dar Bum by Ary (2010):

10. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

9. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

8. Meu Amor by Yola Semedo (2010):

7. Delicious by Paul Play Dairo ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

6. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

5. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

4. Ko Ma Roll by Mo' Chedda (2010):

3. Say Ho by Yola Semedo (2010):

2. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy Le Coeur (2010):

1. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

Click here to read a review of the song

Here below is the rendition of this iconic song by BB Dj (2009):

Top 10 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. 

That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Top 10 happiest pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2010. But this is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF TOP 10 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVA'S IN 2010 ~ #TYS

10. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

9. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

8. Meu Amor by Yola Semedo (2010):

7. Delicious by Paul Play Dairo (2010):

6. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

5. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

4. Ko Ma Roll by Mo' Chedda (2010):

3. Say Ho by Yola Semedo (2010):

2. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy Le Coeur (2010):

1. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

Click here to read a review of the song

Here below is the rendition of this iconic song by BB Dj (2009):

Top 5 Happiest Songs By/Featuring African Divas in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Top 5 happiest pop songs by/featuring African Divas in 2010. This is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF TOP 5 HAPPIEST SONGS BY/FEAT AFRICAN DIVAS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

5. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

4. Ko Ma Roll by Mo' Chedda (2010):

3. Say Ho by Yola Semedo (2010):

2. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy Le Coeur (2010):

1. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira ft. Unnamed Female Vocalist (2010):

Click on this link to read a review of the song

Here below is the rendition of this iconic song by BB Dj (2009):

East Africa's Top 15 Happiest Songs in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. That interest has now resulted in the list given below of East Africa's Top 15 happiest pop songs released in 2010. This is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF EAST AFRICA'S TOP 15 HAPPIEST SONGS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

15. Chap Chap Remix by Bebe Cool ft. AY (2010):

14.  Come to Me by Bebe Cool ft. Alfa (2010):

13. Crazy Over You by KLynn ft. Squeezer  (2010):

12. Kasepiki by Bebe Cool (2010):

11. Stamina Remix by Eddy Kenzo (2010):

~~~~
10. Kings and Queens by AY ft. Jokate x Amani (2010):

9. Mahaba Dhati by Ray C (2010):

8. Mrembo wa Africa (African Diva) by Daz Baba (2010):

7. Shoga by Shaa (2010):

6. Swing Swing by Kleptomaniaxx (2010):

~~~~~~
5. Sunshine by Nameless ft. Habida (2010):

4. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

3. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

2. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

1. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):

East Africa's Top 10 Happiest Songs in 2010 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The first list of Africa's Top Pop Songs in #TheYamboSelection series covered only calendar year 2014. The second list ranked songs in the following year, 2015. However, while working on the various 2016 lists, interest in tracking patterns in a few earlier years continued to grow. That interest has now resulted in the list given below of Africa's Top 10 happiest pop songs released in 2010. This is it. There will not be a 2009 list, tempting as that year is.

The procedure for generating the 2010 list below derives from the same one used for the period 2014-2016. Click here for all the essential details. 

LIST OF AFRICA'S TOP 10 HAPPIEST SONGS IN 2010 ~ #TYS

10. Kings and Queens by AY ft. Jokate x Amani (2010):

9. Mahaba Dhati by Ray C (2010):

8. Mrembo wa Africa (African Diva) by Daz Baba (2010):

7. Shoga by Shaa (2010):

6. Swing Swing by Kleptomaniaxx (2010):

~~~~~~
5. Sunshine by Nameless ft. Habida (2010):

4. Final Mama Ntilie by Ray C (2010):

3. Mkono Mmoja by Temba + Chegge ft. Wahu (2010):

2. Moto Moto by French Boy ft. Ray C (2010):

1. Chokoza by Marya ft. Avril (2010):