The sound clip with which the Cash Madame video starts is from another song, Juu, which Vanessa (a.k.a. Vee Money) sang with fellow Tanzanian called Jux. It is a sly marketing gimmick for Juu, which you won't recognize if you haven't heard the song. And Juu, as connoisseurs will notice or remember, is a blatant undoing (deletion, even) of One More Night, its fore(shadow), in which Jux clumsily appears, but not with Vanessa. It is all rather tell-tale.
Cash Madame's opening images are unreal. Forget about 'em. The arrival in broad daylight of four skimpily-dressed beauties in a pink, convertible Mercedes, armed only with a pistol and a metal bat and overwhelming harmlessness -- it's unreal. To fix, thusly armed, to rob a bunch of hard-core goons of their hoard of hard-fought cash (there u r) -- it's hilarious. And then, and then, to get away with it without a sweat (without a barrage of four-letter words and finger-flicking chasing after 'em) -- forget it. Never happened!
The real treat begins soon enough, though, 50 seconds into the video, with Vanessa the obvious heart of the party. It's all make-believe for Cash Madame, who has more dough than time to figure out how best to spend it. So, unlimited fun is to be had, day into night, without a worry, or hurry. And the fun images that float to-and-fro before our very own eyes are indeed fun to watch. A black 'dame' in flowing blonde hair, her curves all in the right places, charmingly all-smiles, sits on that hula-hoop of a thing and precariously swings -- hanging and turning by a "thread" from an invisible ceiling -- all to the tunefully 'dutiful' refrain of "Cash Madame". It's all a thing!
Eye-catching, almost still-images of all the goings-on leave a lasting impression of hauteness, cat-like coolness and all-round fashionista demeanor. It's like Cash Madame and her friends were all out for a weekend splash on select photo-shoot locations downtown. We're let in on the act after the fact.
While the video displays considerable creativity, the vocals and the other sounds are not attention-grabbing. They do not soar. They are modest. But they blend well into the bigger scheme of things, and the choreography of ever-shifting feline images is masterful. In the end, what stands out is that; that is, the artistry of body motion cloaked in elegant female voices.
I think Cash Madame secures Vanessa's status as the leading African songstress in 2016. She's has had three hits: Niroge, Juu and Cash Madame (Dume Suruali, on the other hand, isn't "so fun"). All this in a year when others dimmed, despite impressions: Yemi Alade (despite much activity), Tiwa Savage, Seyi Shay, Simi, D'ija and Skalled. More broadly, there was limited evidence of top-notch diva creativity out of Southern and Eastern Africa. Arguably second to Vanessa in 2016 was Nigeria's electrifying Lola Rae. Uganda's Shebbah also stood out in a consistent and remarkable way.
CLICK: Cash Madame Lyrics
