MUSIC (Kenya): Here's H_ART THE BAND's Ode to Beauty and Love ~ "Nikikutazama"

Nikikutazama, a Kiswahili phrase for "when I look at you", has an undeniable happiness-inducing beat about it. The artistes, likewise, have a happy, calm and collected, comedic mien. Truly infectious.

A few months ago I was at a Kenyan wedding in Nairobi where the chorus of this anthem of a song was cheerfully and naughtily 'misread' by the MC, a well-known comedian, as: "O Aoko O, O Aokoo..." 

Aoko, it so happens, is a girl's name. In DhoLuo it means, as I reckon, "Girl from the Outside". And on that fine (sunny, sunny) Saturday aft, when matrimony happily joined two ethnic identities, it was promptly added to the bride's name -- a Samburu beauty (with a name that seems to trace back to the era of the pyramids) getting married to a fine Luo groom. 


I don't think that Aoko features in the extant Samburu dictionary, or vocabulary. Perhaps it will in the distance. But no matter. Everyone was so much the happier for that union on that wonderful day. Me and mine certainly were.

Nikikutazama is an ode to beauty. And to Love.

Click here to watch the song's video clip

MUSIC VIDEO: Sura Yako by Sauti Sol

Sura Yako is till now the 'signature' song of Sauti Sol, Kenya's best known AfroPop group today. It is also the premier song at Kenyan weddings, certainly in Nairobi. It's a quintessential wedding anthem. It is truly electrifying when played there, and provokes frenzied dancing by all parties to the affair. I've been witness to that.

Sura Yako is an ode to women, with a proletarian frame of mind. Women of all shapes and every persuasion. It turns every - any - bride into a glowing angel: "Sura yako m(u)zuri mama" Literally: "Your face is good, mama!" But the true spirit of the line is this:"Your face is [soooo fine; such a wonder to behold], mama!" It turns every groom into a squeaky truthful guy. So think of an Eastlands Romeo, on a Saturday of a lifetime. It makes every parent of the bride joyful under the tent.

Click here for the original Sura Yako video

There's a 'remix' version of Sura Yako which features Iyanya, the Nigerian star. Which just goes to highlight the song's appeal, and Sauti Sol's growing network of fellow artistes. But the ultimate seal of recognition for Sura Yako's appeal must surely be President Obama dancing to its tune in late July 2015, while here in Nairobi.