DJ Arafat's Macho Ballad, "Enfant Beni"

Enfant Beni (= Blessed Child) is earnest singing, a stirring ballad with a communal view of things. It has an on-and-off beat which nevertheless hooks everyone and strings everything together. A tone which calms, and more importantly a tune which excites and soothes everyone's spirit, are what we hear almost throughout the song's 3:09 minutes. And so, the subtle aural message is: Despite everything, let's have fun. Let's be good.

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Still, this is a very macho production, with distinct military allusions and even memes. We see this in the vigour with which the actors execute their assigned roles, led by Ivorian DJ Arafat, and in the dances associated with them. The name Arafat itself evokes images of robust, persistent and even violent struggle. 

The dress-code is specifically military. Only one female has a distinct role, a dance role, in this "action". Partly uniformed, she performs it with enthusiasm and seemingly on command. 

The visuals are all very crowd-friendly, in the end, and clearly generate a strong feel-good view of life. Enfant Beni is one song to frequently listen to, and savour.

Here are the Enfant Beni lyrics

MUSIC: Nonchalant Solidstar and Timaya Sing "My Body"

My Body overwhelms the eye, weary/wary eye, with all the fine forms that it is made to, um, regard, unblinking -- in arte's supple and blinding 'light'. In, hazard the thought, the presence of in-laws and other squeamish folks. And the ear with that infinity of a melody it is surrounded by, and for which it has no dancing shoes -- nor no dancing partner. 

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Not to speak of the crescendo of a hook that so absorbs that one knows not any more when a semblance of reality, with all its ruggedness and scarcity of timbre, may resume. And this ocular-aural bewitching, this state of capture, be gone!