Kasiva Mutua ~ Africa's Drummer Queen

Kasiva Mutua is the real African Drummer Queen. She didn't get her crown on a silver platter, nor was she born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her artistry is the result of hard work and a penchant for hearing things and playing them; playing hidden sounds -- and breaking invisible barriers and fantastical glass ceilings. 

Many viewers perhaps first saw glimpses of her doings -- her drumming, spiced with all that passion and all those poses -- at the 2017 Coke Studio Africa, backstopping performers like Bruce Melodie, Khaligraph Jones and DJ Maphorisa in their Don't Know rap(ture). But the 'crowd' didn't know just who that accomplished and so cheerful a drummer, a female one, might be:

Here, watch that video again

It wasn't until CNN did a feature on her in January 2018 that she was at last named and comprehensively unveiled before a large and intrigued public.

Watch: Kasiva, a Life Story (CNN)

But she's been around for a while, before that unveiling. Real talent isn't just suddenly born -- fully formed. Much gestation goes on under the radar long before, as Kasiva's life story illustrates.Watch, for example, a video of Kasiva tuning her drums in 2013

We will surely be seeing and hearing more of her and her art in the years ahead.

ENCORE: Let's watch this 2013 Jam

Alikiba's 'Chekecha Cheketua' is Great Music, But Why is He Still Underrated Across Africa?

Why is Alikiba so underrated, by seemingly everyone, when his singing is so good? He simply "don't get no respect". Let's hope that this ranking, fully justified by the musical quality of Chekecha Cheketua, will help. Let us hope, too, that the kind of exposure he has recently gained in Coke Studio Africa, and on Kenya's NTV, will begin to turn the tide and expand his fan base. He is in fact in Kenya right now for new year festivities in Machakos County. I'm sure he'll be doing the rounds in Nairobi.

I am not so sure, though, that the format adopted in Coke Studio really enhances the stature, or self-image, of artistes already at or near the top of their game. Instead, it seems to level both, and the artiste's differentiating edge, downwards -- toward the LCD. Perhaps the attendance fee that they receive is too attractive for critical thinking, or simply saying no. 

Another thing: the stage format does not avail the versatility that shooting on location does, and so it remains constricted and constricting training 'ground'. Nor do the organizers of Coke Studio appear to understand that providing for large live-audiences (costly as this may be) is crucial to having the performers really fired up and tightening the loose ends. No artiste has excelled in any of the video-clips (including the vaunted "mash ups") that I have looked at; but enough of that.

Chekecha Cheketua, directed by Meji Alabi, was shot on location in South Africa, as is evident in the video scenes themselves. It is a really good song, as the video availed below shows. Melodious guitar tunes thread through its entire spread, taking the listener's attention away from all potential distractions, and so focusing one's sentiments to the merriment at hand. 

Alikiba's own voice is a fine-tuned musical instrument in itself, which he uses to captivating effect. Fine lyrics please the ear unceasingly, even if one does not understand a word of Swahili -- but I do. The dance elements are sensuous, and the dancers themselves are in unflagging high spirits from beginning to end. The costumes are colorfully and creatively selected for the various roles, and provide their own community of visual ebbs and flows. The Director's controlling hand appears effortless, but clearly controls with a knowing eye and ear. And there is, thus, a near-perfect harmony of strings, percussion, voice, light, colors, movement, dance and shifting micro-locations.


NOTE: This song was published on June 29, 2015. It recorded 2,071,728 YouTube views on December 29th, 2015, at 9:55 p.m. (GMT + 3).

Here, be your own witness to this song's superior quality: