MUSIC (LingalaPop): Kin Fever by Anita Mwarabu feat Oliverman

DR Congo's Anita Mwarabu (literally Anita "The Arab", in Swahili) is a delight to watch as the lead singer in this 2016 clip titled Kin Fever. We have already encountered her, on this blog,  in Bolingo Mabe (which she sings with such refinement with Innoss'B) and To Dondwa (with, among others, Fally Ipupa). Kin Fever is a worthy addition to her musical repertoire.

Though clearly a Lingala artiste, she offers us here a song with an English title -- and a distinctive samba/denge/kokoro tune. She is, in fact and in this production, multilingual and multicultural. Her last name suggests an upbringing in eastern DRC (relatively closer to the border with Tanzania, that epicentre of Swahili, than DRC's capital city of Kinshasa, which is to the really far west of that large country, on the Atlantic coast). 

Click here to watch the Kin Fever clip

Anita does not veer in Kin Fever, or anywhere else we have seen or heard her, toward any sort of avant garde frame of mind. This is quite unlike Yondo Sister, her compatriot and precursor, who dwells there(in). She just does what she's got to do, it seems, in the moment -- from song to song. She's proving that she is multi-talented, for sure, but is yet to affirm a distinct persona for her artistic calling. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing, though, since movie stars are not hampered by such. Many/most remain stars even though they play very different roles in their cinematic careers. What matters there is the quality of their performance from one movie to another. And yet we know that a good number of really outstanding stars are very particular about the roles that they agree to play, and that their fans have come to expect. The choice is as much the artiste's as it is the star's, and it is for the rest of us to judge.

Unlike Mbilia Bel -- who has always been "current" and flowing without sideshows with the LingalaPop flow of 'the day' -- Anita Mwarabu is unmistakably 'modern', in a different kind of way, in Kin Fever, and thoroughly 'hip'. She's trendy and 'in the groove' here, and doesn't flinch. She's the epitome of the global "now". Just look at the body texts that populate the Kin Fever clip! 

And yet this is not typical Anita Mwarabu -- certainly not yet. She'll have to do more stuff like this for the divergent personae to stick, in a collective way, in her fans' minds. One doesn't know if she really wants to, or if this is a passing phase. We'll wait to see. But her performance in Kin Fever is good, regardless -- very good.

LingalaPop, Volume 9

This is Volume 9 of the Mauri Yambo Blog's series of #LingalaPop music. The point was made in Volumes 1 and 2 that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically found in pop music as broadly understood. The hashtag given above highlights and groups what I consider to be stand-out examples of that kind of music. 

As previously indicated, Lingala is deliberately made a part of the hashtag in order to give due respect to that expansive lingua franca of the Greater Congo, which serves (in word and/or tone) as the base for the songs referenced here. Most of the songs under the hashtag are sung by Congolese nationals at home or in the diaspora -- but, interestingly, not all. In Volume 3, for example, two Kenyan Queens (Victoria Kimani and Akothee) featured in two separate songs in a full-throttle sort of way. 

Nor is Lingala the language that Congolese artistes, or those that they sing with, exclusively use in the included songs. French is a common ingredient across many songs; and so is Swahili. Choices are made from song to song, but perhaps not randomly. In Tucheze, Ferre Gola sang a considerable chunk of the lyrics in 'heavy-accent' but recognizable Swahili, while Victoria Kimani sang her part almost entirely in English. But Lingala did join them at the hip in terms of both tone and the synchronized flow of body texts. 

Nigerian artiste J. Martins appears with Ferre Gola in Ekelebe, in Volume 4, with enough gravitational force to influence the latter's celestial orbit. The same Ferre Gola, that is, who in that piece sings not, shall I say, in lyrical Lingala but -- in order to 'keep up' with J. Martins -- in bemusing English. Still, Lingala's tonal influence on both proceedings is not escaped, in whatever charming mix we may come upon the ingredients.

Volume 5, like the earlier four, showcases 10 video (or audio) clips steeped in #LingalaPop. Indeed, I think that the songs are among the leading ones. Here, too, not everything is pure Lingala. Barbara Kanam, for example, finely weaves her song, Reste, out of three language strands: French, Swahili and Lingala. She's as good in each just as she, herself, is. And Enemy Solo is sung in a 'volatile' mix of funky Lingala and lyrical 'pidgin' (that's English) by an irrepressible Awilo Longomba and super-charged P-Square! It is a match of equals.

In Volume 6, Linah (who is Tanzanian) and Christian Bella (Congolese) team up to deliver an exceptionally tuneful and colourful song: Hellow. Linah sings almost entirely in Swahili. The song as a whole is mostly in Swahili as well. However, Christian Bella renders his portion of the 'purely' Swahili lyrics with a decidedly Lingala accent. Arguably, this tilts the overall weight of the song's tonality toward Lingala, Christian Bella having already 'state captured' a significant portion of Lina's intonation in the first half of the song. 

In Olla as well, Christian Bella sings in Swahili with the same Lingala-accentuated verve. One should expect the same result, but Khaligraph Jones, the Kenyan Rapper King, blends, and so tempers, all that with his signature "stream of Consciousness" rapping style. And yet the Lingala imprimatur doesn't lose enough force to disappear. This is a win-win, in the end. We can declare a similar result in Nagharamia (sung by Tanzania's Alikiba and Christian Bella). Alikiba succeeds in creating a context in which Swahili (infused in a subtle and measured fashion with Taarab 'elements') cedes as much ground as it gains from Christian Bella's Lingala.

The songs in Volume 7 are sung mostly in Lingala, though four have French (or partly French) titles, and two English. They are all sung by Congolese artistes. Six of the individuals or groups featured here are appearing for the very first time in the #LingalaPop series. They are mostly men.

Three women sing four of the ten songs offered, all in video form. We have seen Claudia Bakisa and Mpongo Love before, but not Yondo Sister. She, Yondo Sister, is, I find, the finest of the bunch of artistes, male or female, gathered in Volume 7. She is among the very top in all the other volumes that we've seen as well. She dances with no restraint at all, as if possessed by the very words she sings and the tunes her ears and lithe body attend to. She goes, in the end, totally wild. Congo wild. Great funk! If you haven't seen Yondo Sister, I dare say, you haven't seen anyone.

Among the male singers, Cedric Embangu -- the lead singer in Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama (Song Number 4) -- is the most impassioned interpreter of the mood and all else that his song packs. He's really, really "intoit" -- body and 'soul'! And so it goes. READ MORE. 

But Sam Mangwana, with his fast-paced Fati Mata, makes an important point as well. It is that Rumba (Rhumba) has changed, and is no longer necessarily slow-motion music plus low-energy dance. He is not alone in this view, as artistes like Ferre Gola, Claudia Bakisa, Cedric Embangu, Fally Ipupa, Heritier Watanabe, Fabregas Le Metis and Didier Milla, among others, amply demonstrate. 

Five singers in total appear in Volume 8, as individuals or as artistic pairs, whom we have not seen in earlier volumes. These are: Didier Milla, Papa Wemba and Nathalie Makoma, and Madilu System and Nyboma. Papa Wemba and Nathalie Makoma (You shall place her by her 'family' name!) sing an attention-grabbing song, emphasizing their sense of freedom to break with 'set pieces' in order to catch, as catch can, nouveau sounds and styles. 

Didier Milla's team, likewise, delivers superbly innovative Rumba sounds and unfettered, stylized dance moves. Madilu System and Nyboma serve us a more 'mainstream' fare, but the dancing girls garnish it. They garnish it, with no apologies, with a "spirit of the dance" that's something of a bridge between Old R(h)umba and an Ascendant Soukous. 

Sure-footed Yondo Sister appears here, too, with two songs and sets of dancing shoes. And that silky voice. It's not a cameo appearance by any means. And all's well with Perdue de Vue. All's even better with Maweke's surround magic.

In this Volume 9 we have four singers we haven't encountered in previous volumes. These are, first and second, the late superstar Madilu System (aka Jean de Dieu Makiese, aka Jean Bialu Madilu) and Wuta Mayi. The two sing and share deserved accolades in a funky -- and 'just too tuneful' and truly dance-worthy -- piece titled L'heure c'est L'heure. 

Third, Alain Kounkou, who gives us as fine and thoroughly modern interpretation of Soukous as any in R.A.S Riens A Signaler. Fourth, Kidum, who pairs with lovable Alicios in Pete, in a touching tribute to love and the optimism and trust that it invariably engenders and rides on.

Eight of the titles in Volume 9 were sung and published after 2010; that is, in this second decade of the 21st century. But these cannot include L'heure c'est..., since Madilu System (born in 1950) died too soon, at 57, in 2007. We have already touched on two of the eight above; that is, R.A.S.... and Pete. The other six are: C'est Facile, Logik, Kin Fever, Jeudi Soir, Mwana Kento and Nashindwa.  

Let's touch only briefly on two of the remaining six for now; namely, Logik and Nashindwa. Sung in English, Lingala and French in different measures, Logik is, in tone and dance moves, a genre as far from Rumba as can be. It's a musical cocktail in a distinctly millennial style. That's to say, it has a beat, and dance memes, that place it at the very eye-of-the-storm that's today's youth-driven and increasingly borderless pop. But for the lyrics, and the people who play assigned roles in the clip, Logik might as well be a production out of New York City; or a major European city, for that matter -- which it most probably is in a literal sense. And yet Innoss'B's talent isn't getting as much attention in the social media as it truly deserves.

Christian Bella (Master of Melody), is a Congolese who has lived in Tanzania since 2006. He sings Nashindwa (= I'm beat) entirely in Swahili. But the lyrical tone is distinctly Lingala. So is the song's pervasive beat. The dancing that we see in the clip is a cross between Rumba and Soukous -- and consequently projects a slower version of Soukous. He may choose to live outside DR Congo, but Lingala isn't parting company with his musical muse.

Let's turn now to high-strung Yondo Sister, who sings both C'est Facile and Mwana Kento. The sounds in C'est Facile, we find, are pure melody, and are well interpreted by Yondo Sister's dancing belles. The mood that all the 'artwork' spreads is cabaret-like and all-alluring. And, out of the blue, the clip 'installs' a mellow ambience superbly tailored for a cocktail, or dinner, get-together of cool-society types -- products of multiple cultures and (ad)ventures. The inspired piano accompaniment just lets everything soar, and affirms -- affirms everything one would want affirmed. 

Mwana Kento is another thing altogether -- a moving and lyrical cultural statement. As an aural-ocular offering, it is an inspired and deeply touching, and perhaps 'possessed', feline-fed interpretation of the African spirit, which touches all things that there are to touch. The mood is deeply rooted in all that has (ever) happened in this big, big, big portion of Mother Earth -- and so, so deeply African. She, Yondo Sister, is the sole soul-sorceress here, at this moment in our time; an agile purveyor of our deep culture -- in its aural and all its danced dimensions. She's a true personification of it all.

The other female singer on the above list of six is Anita Mwarabu (in Swahili, it is tempting to translate this to Anita "The Arab"), already encountered in Bolingo Mabe (which she sings with such refinement with Innoss'B) and To Dondwa (with, among others, Fally Ipupa). Here, as already indicated, she sings a song with an English title, Kin Fever. She does not veer in any way here, or anywhere else we have seen her, toward any sort of avant garde frame of mind, contrary to what we will presently say of Yondo Sister. She just does what she's got to do, it seem, in the moment -- from song to song. 

She's proving that she is multi-talented, for sure, but is yet to affirm a distinct persona for her artistic calling. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though, since movie stars are not hampered by such. Many/most remain stars even though they play very different roles in their cinematic careers. What matters there is the quality of their performance from one movie to another. And yet we know that a good number of really outstanding stars are very particular about the roles that they agree to play, and that their fans have come to expect. The choice is as much the artiste's as it is the star's, and it is for the rest of us to judge.

Unlike Mbilia Bel -- who's always been "current" and flowing without sideshows with the LingalaPop flow of 'the day' -- Anita Mwarabu is unmistakably 'modern' in a different kind of way in Kin Fever, and thoroughly 'hip'. She's trendy and 'in the groove' here, and doesn't flinch. She's the epitome of the global "now". Just look at the body texts that populate the clip! And yet this is not typical Anita Mwarabu -- certainly not yet. She'll have to do more stuff like this for the divergent personae to stick, in a collective way, in her fans' minds. One doesn't know if she really wants to, or if this is a passing phase. We'll wait to see. But her performance in Kin Fever is good, regardless -- very good.

In general, it can be said that among the girls (and even among the men), Yondo Sister chose the avant garde path very early in her career, when the environment in which she grew up musically demanded only that one stayed "current" -- and flowed with 'it'. One detects great rebelliousness in her in this respect. The rebellion long ago became the habit that informs our reading of her art, and her approach to broader life. All of us who  savor her music and her characteristic counter-intuitive acts -- in sum, her magic -- we're all the richer for it. So ends my comments on the songs in Volume 9.

This growing selection of #LingalaPop titles, now in the ninth volume, includes a number about which I have made 'substantive' comments already or, alternatively, ranked in #TheYamboSelection series -- over the stretch of a few years. And, as mentioned in earlier volumes, I have restricted my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another -- or, let's say it, via smart algorithms. It has not been a total scouring of the Great Lakes and Rivers (etc) universe -- which would have been an exercise in futility for one man.

The urge to share exemplary or exciting 'finds' on a particular list (scheduled or not) may prompt -- indeed already has (in #TheYamboSelection series), and in some instances perhaps should -- the publication of the list before the narratives related to particular titles are ready for release, or even 'fully' drafted. The fact is that there's just so much Lingala music from the past, leave alone the numbers being produced these days -- and increasingly "all over". The urge to share must keep reasonable pace with the volume and accelerating velocity of creative productions. 

The lister's and commentator's work is never done, experience teaches! Such comments as I have already made are available on this blog, but the links I give below take you only to the clips associated with the songs listed in Volume 9. Links to any comments that I will make in the days and months ahead about particular titles on the list below will be added to an updated version of this post as soon as those comments are ready to share. 

As has been the practice in earlier volumes, the songs appearing below are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Let me also add that the 'burst' of incoming evidence that I have encountered as I have continued with my (re)search on songs that deserve inclusion means that we are now even closer to Volume 10 than imagined just three or so volumes back.

Here below are the video/audio clips that make up Volume 9:
Click (you may have to Right Click) the song of your choice on the list below, and then (if you have Right Clicked) choose the "Open link in new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip.

1. L'heure c'est L'heure by Madilu System ft. Wuta Mayi (2017?)
2. C'est Facile by Yondo Sister (2012)
3. Logik by Innoss'B (2017)
4. R.A.S. Rien A Signaler by Alain KounKou (2012)
5. Kin Fever by Anita Mwarabu ft. Oliverman (2016)
6. Jeudi Soir by Fally Ipupa (2017)
7. Mwana Kento by Yondo Sister (2013, Here's the 2008 ver.)
8. Zazou by Ferre Gola (2009)
9. Nashindwa by Christian Bella (2015) 
10. Pete by Alicios ft. Kidum (2016)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find below links to previous Volumes ~ 1 to 8:
1. LingalaPop, Volume 1
2. LingalaPop, Volume 2
3. LingalaPop, Volume 3
4. LingalaPop, Volume 4
5. LingalaPop, Volume 5 
6. LingalaPop, Volume 6
7. LingalaPop, Volume 7

8. LingalaPop, Volume 8

MUSIC (LingalaPop): Innoss'B's Logik

Logic is a very pleasant and radiant video clip. One suspects that those who didn't yet know Innoss'B will be quite surprised by his Logik. Sung in English, Lingala and French in different measures, the song is, in tone and dance moves, a genre as far from Rumba as can be. It's a musical cocktail in a distinctly millennial style. That's to say, it has a beat, and dance memes, that place it at the very eye-of-the-storm that's today's youth-driven and borderless pop. 

But for the lyrics, and the people who play assigned roles in the clip, Logik might as well be a production out of New York City; or a major European city, for that matter -- which it probably is in a literal sense. And yet Innoss'B's talent isn't getting as much attention in the social media as it deserves. That should change.

Click here to watch the video clip

LingalaPop, Volume 7

This is Volume 7 of the Mauri Yambo Blog's series of #LingalaPop music. The point has been made in Volumes 1 and 2 that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically found in pop music as broadly understood. The hashtag given above groups and highlights what I consider to be stand-out examples of that kind of music. 

As previously indicated, Lingala is featured in that hashtag in order to give due respect to that expansive lingua franca of the Greater Congo, which serves (in word and/or tone) as the base for the songs referenced here. Most of the songs under the hashtag are sung by Congolese nationals at home or in the diaspora -- but, interestingly, not all. In Volume 3, for example, two Kenyan Queens (Victoria Kimani and Akothee) featured in two separate songs in a full-throttle sort of way. 

Nor is Lingala the language that Congolese artistes, or those that they sing with, exclusively use in the included songs. In Tucheze, Ferre Gola sang a considerable chunk of the lyrics in 'heavy-accent' but recognizable Swahili, while Victoria Kimani sang her part almost entirely in English. Lingala joined them at the hip in terms of both tone and the synchronized flow of body texts. 

Nigerian artiste J. Martins appears with Ferre Gola in Ekelebe, in Volume 4, with enough gravitational force to influence the latter's celestial orbit. The same Ferre Gola, that is, who in that piece sings not, shall I say, in lyrical Lingala but in bemusing English. Still, Lingala's tonal influence on both proceedings is not escaped, in whatever charming mix we may come upon the ingredients.

Volume 5, like the earlier four, showcases 10 video (or audio) clips steeped in #LingalaPop. Indeed, I think that the songs are among the leading ones. Here, too, not everything is pure Lingala. Barbara Kanam, for example, finely weaves her song, Reste, out of three language strands: French, Swahili and Lingala. She's as good in each just as she, herself, is. And Enemy Solo is sung in a 'volatile' mix of funky Lingala and lyrical 'pidgin' (that's English) by an irrepressible Awilo Longomba and super-charged P-Square! 

In Volume 6, Linah (who is Tanzanian) and Christian Bella (Congolese) team up to deliver an exceptionally tuneful and colourful song: Hellow. Linah sings almost entirely in Swahili. The song as a whole is mostly in Swahili as well. However, Christian Bella renders his portion of the 'purely' Swahili lyrics with a decidedly Lingala accent. Arguably, this tilts the overall weight of the song's tonality toward Lingala, Christian Bella having already 'state captured' a significant portion of Lina's intonation in the first half of the song. 

In Olla as well, Christian Bella sings in Swahili with the same Lingala-accentuated verve. One should expect the same result, but Khaligraph Jones, the Kenyan Rapper King, blends, and so tempers, all that with his signature "stream of Consciousness" rapping style. And yet the Lingala imprimatur doesn't lose enough force to disappear. This is a win-win, in the end. We can declare a similar result in Nagharamia (sung by Tanzania's Alikiba and Christian Bella). Alikiba succeeds in creating a context in which Swahili (infused in a subtle and measured fashion with Taarab 'elements') cedes as much ground as it gains from Christian Bella's Lingala.

The songs in Volume 7 are sung mostly in Lingala, though four have French (or partly French) titles, and two English. They are all sung by Congolese artistes. Six of the individuals or groups featured here are appearing for the very first time in the #LingalaPop series. They are mostly men.

Three women sing four of the ten songs offered, all in video form. We have seen Claudia Bakisa and Mpongo Love before, but not Yondo Sister. She, Yondo Sister, is, I find, the finest of the bunch of artistes, male or female, gathered in Volume 7. She is among the very top in all the other volumes that we've seen as well. She dances with no restraint at all, as if possessed by the very words she sings and the tunes her ears and lithe body attend to. She goes, in the end, totally wild. Congo wild. Great funk! If you haven't seen Yondo Sister, I dare say, you haven't seen anyone.

Among the male singers, Cedric Embangu -- the lead singer in Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama (Song Number 4) -- is the most impassioned interpreter of the mood and all else that his song packs. He's really, really "intoit" -- body and 'soul'! And so it goes. READ MORE. 

But Sam Mangwana, with his fast-paced Fati Mata, makes an important point as well. It is that Rumba has changed, and is no longer necessarily slow-motion music and low-energy dance. He is not alone in this view, as artistes like Ferre Gola, Claudia Bakisa, Cedric Embangu, Fally Ipupa, Heritier Watanabe and Fabregas Le Metis, among others, amply demonstrate.

My growing selection of #LingalaPop titles includes a number about which I have made 'substantive' comments already or, alternatively, ranked in #TheYamboSelection series -- over the stretch of a few years. And I have restricted my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another -- or, let's say it, via smart algorithms. It has not been a total scouring of the Great Lakes and Rivers (etc) universe -- which would have been an exercise in futility for one man.

The urge to share exemplary or exciting 'finds' on a particular list (scheduled or not) may prompt -- indeed already has (in #TheYamboSelection series), and in some instances perhaps should -- the publication of the list before the narratives related to particular titles are ready for release, or even 'fully' drafted. The fact is that there's just so much Lingala music from the past, leave alone the numbers being produced these days -- and increasingly "all over". The urge to share must keep reasonable pace with the volume and accelerating velocity of creative productions. 

The lister's and commentator's work is never done, experience teaches! Such comments as I have already made are available on this blog, but the links I give below take you only to the clips associated with the songs listed in Volume 7. Links to any comments that I will make in the days ahead about particular titles on the list below will be added to an updated version of this post as soon as those comments are ready to share. 

The songs appearing below are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Let me also add that the 'burst' of incoming evidence that I have encountered as I have continued with my (re)search on songs that deserve inclusion means, alas/happily, that even Volume 7 will not be the last. Opportunity and ambition -- which are good and energizing to have -- suggest that there's going to be a Volume 10, sometime. No one knows when.

About the video/audio clips included in Volume 7:
Click (you may have to Right Click) the song of your choice on the list below, and then (if you have Right Clicked) choose the "Open link in new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip.

1. Fati Mata by Sam Mangwana (Audio 2009)
2. Aminata by Madilu System (Audio July 2017?)
3. Bizu Bizu by Claudia Bakisa (2018)
4. Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama by Cedric Embangu x JB Mpiana (2011)
5. Double Double by Nyboma (2014?) 
6. Faute ya Commercat by (Poet) Simaro Massiya Lutamba (Audio 1974/2009)
7. Cheri Enleve Integrale by Claudia Bakisa (2012)
8. Bakake by Mpongo Love (video 2014)
9. Mbuta Mutu by Yondo Sister (2015)
10. Double Face by Fabregas Le Metis (2018)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find below links to previous Volumes ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6:
1. LingalaPop, Volume 1
2. LingalaPop, Volume 2
3. LingalaPop, Volume 3
4. LingalaPop, Volume 4
6. LingalaPop, Volume 5 
7. LingalaPop, Volume 6

LingalaPop, Volume 6

This is Volume 6 of the Mauri Yambo Blog's series of #LingalaPop music. The point has been made in Volumes 1 and 2 that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically associated with, or seen in, pop music as broadly understood. The hashtag given above groups and highlights what I consider to be stand-out examples of that kind of music. 

As previously indicated, Lingala features in that hashtag in order to give due respect to that expansive lingua franca of the Greater Congo, which serves (in word and/or tone) as the base for the songs referenced here. Most of the songs under the hashtag are sung by Congolese nationals at home or in the diaspora -- but, interestingly, not all. In Volume 3, for example, two Kenyan Queens (Victoria Kimani and Akothee) featured in two separate songs in a full-throttle sort of way. 

Nor is Lingala the language that Congolese artistes, or those that they sing with, invariably use in the included songs. In Tucheze, Ferre Gola sang a considerable chunk of the lyrics in 'heavy-accent' but recognizable Swahili, while VK sang her part almost entirely in English. Lingala joined them at the hip in terms of both tone and the flow (the synchronized flow) of body texts. 

Nigerian artiste J. Martins appears with Ferre Gola in Ekelebe, in Volume 4, with enough gravitational force to influence FG's celestial orbit. The same FG who in that piece sings not, shall I say, in lyrical Lingala but in bemusing English. Still, Lingala's tonal influence on both proceedings is not escaped, in whatever charming mix we may come upon the ingredients.

Volume 5, like the earlier four, showcases 10 video (or audio) clips which exemplify #LingalaPop. Indeed, I think that the songs are among the leading ones. Here, too, not everything is pure Lingala. Barbara Kanam, for example, finely weaves her song, Reste, out of three language strands: French, Swahili and Lingala. She's as good in each just as she, herself, is. And Enemy Solo is sung in a 'volatile' mix of funky Lingala and lyrical 'pidgin' (that's English) by an irrepressible Awilo Longomba and super-charged P-Square! 

In the present volume, Volume 6, Linah (who is Tanzanian) and Christian Bella (Congolese) team up to deliver an exceptionally tuneful and colourful song: Hellow. Linah sings almost entirely in Swahili. The song as a whole is sung mostly in Swahili as well. However, Christian Bella renders his portion of the 'purely' Swahili lyrics in a decidedly Lingala accent. Arguably, this tilts the overall weight of the song's tonality in favour of Lingala, Christian Bella having already 'state captured' a significant portion of Lina's intonation in the first half of the song. 

In Olla as well, Christian Bella sings in Swahili with the same Lingala accent. One should expect the same result, but Khaligraph Jones, the Kenyan Rapper King, blends, and so tempers, all that with his signature "stream of Consciousness" rapping style. And yet the Lingala imprimatur doesn't lose enough force to disappear. This is a win-win, in the end. We can declare a similar result in Nagharamia (sung by Tanzania's Alikiba and Christian Bella). Alikiba succeeds in creating a context in which Swahili (infused in a subtle and measured fashion with Taarab 'elements') cedes as much ground as it gains from Christian Bella's Lingala.

My growing selection of #LingalaPop titles includes a significant number about which I have made 'substantive' comments already or, alternatively, ranked in #TheYamboSelection series -- over the stretch of a few years. And I have restricted my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another -- or, let's say it, via smart algorithms. It has not been a total scouring of the Great Lakes and Rivers (etc) universe -- which would have been an exercise in futility for one man.

The urge to share exemplary or exciting 'finds' on a particular list (scheduled or not) may prompt -- indeed already has (in #TheYamboSelection series), and in some instances perhaps should -- the publication of the list before the narratives related to particular titles are ready for release, or even 'fully' drafted. The fact is that there's just so much music being produced these days -- and increasingly "all over". The urge to share must keep reasonable pace with the volume and accelerating velocity of creative productions. 

The lister's and commentator's work is never done, experience teaches! Such comments as I have already made are available on this blog, but the links I give below take you only to the clips associated with the songs listed in Volume 6. Links to any comments that I will make in the days ahead about particular titles on the list below will be added to an updated version of this post as soon as those comments are ready to share. 

The songs appearing below are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Let me also add that the 'burst' of incoming evidence that I have encountered as I have continued with my (re)search on songs that deserve inclusion means, alas/happily, that even Volume 6 will not be the last. There's going to be a Volume 7.

About the video/audio clips included in Volume 6:
Click (you may have to Right Click) the song of your choice on the list below, and then (if you have Right Clicked) choose the "Open link in new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip.

1. Hellow by Linah ft. Christian Bella (2015)
2. Dance 4 Me Remix by J.Martins ft. Koffi Olomide (2015)
3. Kibombanda by Ferre Gola (2014)
4. Service by Fally Ipupa (2013)
5. Nagharamia by Alikiba x Christian Bella (2015)
6. Muzangila by Mbilia Bel (2017)
7. Bolingo by Makoma (2012)
8. Olla by Christian Bella ft. Khaligraph Jones (2017)
9. Cobetox by Koffi Olomide ft. Ferre Gola (2016)
10. Alidor by Koffi Olomide (2017)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find below links to previous Volumes ~ 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5:

1. LingalaPop, Volume 1
2. LingalaPop, Volume 2
3. LingalaPop, Volume 3
4. LingalaPop, Volume 4
6. Lingala Pop, Volume 5 

LingalaPop, Volume 4

This is Volume 4 of this blog's series of #LingalaPop music. The point has been made in Volumes 1 and 2 that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically associated with or seen in pop music, as broadly understood. I have even grouped what I consider to be stand-out examples of that kind of Congolese music under the hashtag given above. 

As previously pointed out, I have included Lingala in that hashtag in order to give due respect to that expansive lingua franca of the Greater Congo, which serves (in word and/or tone) as the base for the songs referenced here. Most of the songs are sung by Congolese nationals at home or in the diaspora -- but, interestingly, not all. In Volume 3, for example, two Kenyan Queens (Victoria Kimani and Akothee) featured in a full-throttle sort of way. 

Nor is Lingala the language that Congolese artistes, or those that they sing with, invariably use in the included songs. In Tucheze, Ferre Gola sang a considerable chunk of the lyrics in 'heavy-accent' but recognizable Swahili, while VK sang her part almost entirely in English. Nigerian artiste J. Martins appears with Ferre Gola in Ekelebe, in Volume 4, with enough gravitational force to influence FG's celestial orbit. The same FG who sings, shall I say, not in lyrical Lingala but bemusing English. Still, Lingala's tonal influence on both proceedings is not escaped, in whatever charming mix we may come upon the ingredients.

Volume 4, like the previous three, showcases 10 video (or audio) clips which on good grounds qualify to be labelled, and which therefore exemplify, #LingalaPop. Indeed, I think that the songs are the leading ones in that genre. Perhaps I should say: among the leading ones. 

My selection of #LingalaPop titles so far published has also been been mostly restricted to those about which I have made 'substantive' comments already (or have ranked in #TheYamboSelection series) -- over the stretch of a few years. And I have restricted my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another. 

But the urge to share exemplary or exciting 'finds' on a particular list (scheduled or not) may prompt -- indeed already has (in #TheYamboSelection series), and in some instances perhaps should -- the publication of the list before the narratives related to particular titles are ready for release, or even 'fully' drafted. The fact is that there's just so much music being produced these days -- and increasingly "all over". 

It would unduly lengthen the intervals between particular volumes in the series and, what's more, overwhelm any one commentator to endeavour to say something meaningful about each "drop", so to speak -- or even about "many enough" -- in any kind of timely fashion. That is, despite the fact that one's timing on one's blog is 'entirely' one's own. The lister's work is never done, experience teaches! Such comments as I have already made are available on this blog, and I give below the link associated with each listed song. Those that are not yet made will, hopefully in the main, follow. 

The songs listed below are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Let me also add that the 'burst' of incoming evidence that I have encountered as I have continued with my (re)search on songs that deserve inclusion means, alas/happily, that even Volume 4 will not be the last. There's going to be a Volume 5 -- and perhaps a 6.

About the video/audio clips included in Volume 3:
You may have to Right Click the song of your choice on the list below, and then choose the "Open link in a new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip.

1. Billi by Kanda Bongo Man (2014)
2. Ekelebe by J. Martins ft. Ferre Gola (2016)
3. Napesi by Makoma (1999, 2012)
4. Porte Monnaie by Ferre Gola ft. Gout (2011)
5. La Beaute d'un Femme by Mbilia Bel (2017)
6. Robot by Koffi Olomide (2010, 2017)
7. Etoula by Diblo Dibala ft. Loketo (2017)
8. Perdue de Vue - Espelisa by Yondo Sister (2013, 2017)
9. Magastar by Heritier Watanabe (2018)
10. La Femme et L'argent by Diblo Dibala (2016) 



Find below links to previous Volumes ~ 1, 2 and 3:
1. LingalaPop, Volume 1
2. LingalaPop, Volume 2
3. LingalaPop, Volume 3

LingalaPop, Volume 3

This is Volume 3 of this blog's series of #LingalaPop music. The point has been made in Volumes 1 and 2 that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically associated with or seen in pop music, as broadly understood. I have even grouped what I consider to be stand-out examples of that kind of Congolese music under the hashtag given above. 

I have included Lingala in that hashtag in order to give due respect to that expansive lingua franca of the Greater Congo, which serves (in word and/or tone) as the base for the songs referenced here. Most of the songs are sung by Congolese nationals at home or in the diaspora -- but, interestingly, not all. Nor is Lingala the language that they, or those that they sing with, invariably use in the included songs. But its influence is not escaped in whatever charming mix we may come upon.

Volume 3, like the previous two, showcases 10 video (or audio) clips which on good grounds qualify to be labelled, and which therefore exemplify, #LingalaPop. Indeed, I think that the songs are the leading ones in that genre. Perhaps I should say: among the leading ones. 

I confess that my selection of #LingalaPop titles so far published has also been restricted to those about which I have made 'substantive' comments already (or have ranked in #TheYamboSelection) -- over the stretch of a few years. And I have restricted my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another. 

But the urge to share exemplary or exciting 'finds' on a particular list (scheduled or not) may prompt -- indeed already has (in #TheYamboSelection series), and in some instances perhaps should -- the publication of the list before the narratives related to particular titles are ready for release. The fact is that there's just so much music being produced these days -- and increasingly "all over". It would overwhelm any one commentator to say something meaningful about each "drop", so to speak -- or even about "many enough" in any kind of timely fashion. Luckily, my timing on this blog is my own.

Such comments as I have already made are available on this blog, and I give below the link associated with each listed song. Those that are not yet made will follow. The songs are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Let me also add that the 'burst' of incoming evidence that I have encountered as I have continued with my (re)search on songs that deserve inclusion means, alas/happily, that Volume 3 will not be the last. There's going to be a Volume 4 -- and perhaps a 5.

About the video/audio clips included in Volume 3:
You may have to Right Click the song of your choice on the list below, and then choose the "Open link in a new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip

1. Mongali by Tabu Ley ft. Afrisa International (c. 1969?)
2. Bad Boy by Fally Ipupa x Aya Nakamura (2017)
3. Djarabi by Barbara Kanam (2010) 
4. Mobimba by P Unit ft. Alicios (2013)
5. Bougerle by Akothee ft. Sarkozy (2015)
6. Tucheze by Victoria Kimani ft. Ferre Gola (2016)
7. Les Z'on dit by Mbilia Bell (2017)
8. Congo by Koffi Olomide ft. Cindy le Coeur (2010)
9. Lisanga ya Bambanda by Mbilia Bell (2017)
10. Coupe Bibamba by Awilo Longomba [Here's a Live Show version at an event in 1998]

LingalaPop, Volume 2

As mentioned in Volume 1 of this series, I have on occasion made the case on this blog and in my tweets (@MauriYambo) that certain Congolese music productions have all the features -- and, I should add now, effects on audience (or fan) sensibilities -- which are typically associate with or seen in pop music, as broadly understood. I have even grouped that kind of Congolese music under a hashtag: #LingalaPop. I have done so, essentially, in order to keep faith with that expansive lingua franca we know as Lingala -- and which serves as the base for all the songs referenced here.

You will find listed below the next volume (Volume 2) of 10 songs which qualify to be labelled as such. A third, and very likely the last, volume of 10 video (or audio) clips will follow. I think that the songs are the leading ones. Perhaps I should say: among the leading ones. 

I confess that my selection has also been restricted to songs about which I have made 'substantive' comments already (or have ranked in #TheYamboSelection) -- over the stretch of a few years. I try to restrict my commentary essentially to songs that have "reached my ears" in one way or another, and that I consider superior. But exceptions do occur. The fact is that there's just so much music being produced -- increasingly, "all over". It would overwhelm any one commentator to say something meaningful about each "drop", so to speak -- or even about many enough.

The comments that I have made are already available on this blog, and I give below the link associated with each listed song. The songs are not arranged in any particular order of rank. I really love all of them, and think you will do so too. Here they are:

[Note: You may have to Right Click the song of your choice on the list below, and then choose the "Open link in a new tab" option in order to watch or listen to the clip]

1. Makolo ya Massiya by Carlyto Lassa
2. Elengi ya Mbongo by Innoss'B ft. Koffi Olomide
3. Amour en Or by Claudia Bakisa ft. Fabregas Metis Noir
4. Cha Cha by Innoss'B
5. To Dondwa by Fally Ipupa ft. Fvicteam (Christy Lova, Boogie Black, Anita Mwarabu, Shesko Lemeraude and Master Virus)
6. Bolingo Mabe by Innoss'B ft. Anita Mwarabu
7. Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakissa ft. Koffi Olomide
8. Esopi Yo by Awilo Longomba ft. Tiwa Savage
9. Posa ya Bolingo by Alicios
10. Mannequin by Fally Ipupa ft. Keblack x Naza

LingalaPop, Volume 1

I have written severally in the past about Congolese music, sung mostly in Lingala but quite frequently interspersed with French -- and often in Swahili as well. And I have on occasion made the case on this blog and in my tweets (@MauriYambo) for a music genre -- and more specifically certain 'instantiations' of Congolese music -- which I see as having all the features of pop music as broadly understood. I have even given the genre a hashtag: #LingalaPop. So there you are.

I wish now to bring together the songs which qualify to be labelled as such. I will do so in at least three volumes of 10 video (or audio) clips each. This is the first volume. I think that the listed songs are the leading songs, but I stand to be corrected. 

I confess that my selection has also been restricted to songs about which I have made 'substantive' comments already (or have ranked in #TheYamboSelection) -- over the stretch of a few years. Those comments are already available on this blog, and I give below the link to each. They are not arranged here in any particular order of rank, however. I really love all the songs, and think you will do so too. Here they are, then:

[Note: You may have to Right Click the song of your choice on the list below, and then choose the "Open link in a new window" option in order to watch or listen to the clip]

1. Karolina by Awilo Longomba
2. Cache Cache by Awilo Longomba
3. Echantillon ya Pamba by Nico Kassanda
4. Yolanda by Kanda Bongo Man
5. Tembe na Tembe by Bozi Boziana
6. Independence Cha Cha by Le Grand Kalle
7. Non by Franco
8. Christina by Tabu Ley
9. Ndaya by Mpongo Love
10. Muchana by Kanda Bongo Man

MUSIC (Lingala): Makolo ya Massiya by Carlyto Lassa

Some songs, like Carlyto's Makolo ya Massiya, you don't find. They find you. You just "bump into them", sort of, as some kind of a long planned-for prey into the spider's web. You get caught, entrapped by a sudden wave of inescapable verve and unbelievable melody of voice. A certain bewitching, air-filling moment of magical sounds. A wirtschaft (an economy) of (e)motion that belies great self-assurance and creativity in the singer.

I heard Makolo ya Massiya (Messiah's Heaven?) for the first time, I believe, today, around One. One of those songs you get to, unwittingly, via YouTube's "Up Next" app. Of course, my immediate impression was: Another great #LingalaPop discovery! So I checked the year of publication: December 7, 2017. Aha, pop! 

The title didn't at first mean a thing to me. I didn't even hear Yesu Massiya in the first round of play. But I did in the second. Ah, Gospel! Ah, Jesus the Messiah! A search for the lyrics and a quick scouring for telltale biblical words and phrases, which pass you by in the singing, confirmed the impression. I don't ordinarily do Gospel. But I have done some. My focus is pop. AfroPop. But it wouldn't let go. And then I couldn't:


Click to listen to the song's audio


 Carlyto is altogether master of all that hears him, and his band. He goes by several variations to his name, too: Carlyto Lassa, Frere Carlyto Lassa, Frere Carlyto, and Fr. Carlyto. But not stand-alone Carlyto. So be it. He sings in Lingala, and so must be Congolese (one reasons); not a reverse-migrant from Brazil or some other part of the Americas. There are hints of Samba, or Denge, in the tunes here; but this song is more decidedly a Soukous piece. It is sprinkled here and there with mild rapping. But spoken Lingala is music enough! The most musical of all African languages, if you ask me. The song runs for all of 9:11 out-of-this-world minutes.

Mesmerizing is the word with Makolo ya Massiya. It is cry-some cool in tone, in parts. It is solid-gold melody, and a super-laid back engagement.What angelic instrumentation all through it! This is a massive rendition, in all ways, of the inspired Word in lay tones.

There are several high points (two-digit seconds at a go) along the song that really resonate: 1:25-1:44, 2:25- 2:38, 6:02-6:32 and 7:20-7:59. And what a lilting, transporting, vocal coda at the end -- especially in the precious seconds from 8:29 to 8:44!

READ: Makolo ya Massiya Lyrics

NOTE: As I publish this post, the audio has a total of 21,729 'views' (that is, plays). 

MUSIC (Congolese): Fiko Fiko Fion by Claudia Bakisa ft. Koffi Olomide

All laid back, two great sophisticates join to drop a lovely track: Fiko Fiko Fion. Koffi Olomide reigns still, an unobtrusive monarch. Claudia Bakisa patiently waits, with pent-up energy, for Africa's playing field to level.

What an enchanting voice Claudia has!

It is a song to dance to, and to listen to in a warm and cosy place. It's Rumba. It's truly Lingala. And it's Pop. #LingalaPop!

Click here to watch the video

Music (Congolese): Innoss'B and Anita Mwarabu Share with Us the Pain of Bolingo Mabe

In Bolingo Mabe (Lingala phrase for false, untrue or unfaithful Love), we renew our acquaintance with super-talented but unassuming Innoss'B, who hails from the DRC -- and speaks Swahili too. We last saw (and heard) him with Koffi Olomide in that blast of a song titled Elengi. Here he sings with his compatriot, sophisticated and self-confident Anita Mwarabu, who also speaks Swahili. That's a plus, for both. She sings in To Dondwa as well, with maestro Fally Ipupa and company. 

The theme in Bolingo Mabe, mostly sung in Lingala, is that true love is hard to find. Untrue or false or betrayed love, its ever-present nemesis, is plainly tiring and disengaging. Still, the fine voices and sounds which deliver the stark message are quite stirring. The superbly crafted tune entices the listener to keep on listening -- and watching the video. 

"Tara ndoto" -- Hm! Hm!

The pained tone that threads through the whole thing mimics the sad experience. We hear the exasperation (in Swahili): "Yeye 'tarudi lini!?"

Watch the Bolingo Mabe Video Here 

Notes: 
1. Bolingo (Lingala) = Love
2. Mabe = Bad, Fake, False, Untrue, Wicked...
3. Bolingo Mabe = False (or Untrue) love; Unfaithful Love.

Kiss Daniel's Yeba

In Lingala language, the word Yeba means to know, or to become acquainted with. The music which those of my generation grew up with (and were nourished by) in Nairobi, and other parts of Kenya and the larger East Africa, was mostly Congolese, rendered in Lingala -- with a sprinkling of French and even 'broken' Swahili (nuggets of the latter which it was fun to rummage for). 

All too often, in the course of the lyrics, one would hear the intriguing word Yeba shoot out. We didn't quite pause to ask what it meant exactly. We took it as some kind of exclamation, signalling a moment of 'ecstasy' in the song -- such as was relayed by the 'possessed' vocalist, and such as was allowed in the dance hall and over the radio.

I don't yet know what Yeba means in Kiss Daniel's Nigerian language, but I have my suspicions -- which drew my attention to Yeba, one of his most recent songs, in the first place (so to speak). Having heard the song and viewed the video, what I know already, and all that matters for now, is that this tuneful song is a Looking Glass of sorts (nay, a telescope) by means of which he takes us on a smooth, decades-long journey through musical Time -- abridged though the journey clearly is. 

The video has a magic of its own. It is a montage, inside very confined space, of a galaxy of sped-up movements and slow-motion 'posturings' (a few of which may be a turnoff to a few). Numbered years come rushing at you in one bat-like stream of charged (of awakened) sub-consciousness, if, I'm thinking, you remember them as you were. Littler. Younger. And, all of this, seemingly without a choreography. Seemingly, yes, but in the end everything falls into place as part of a grand design and laid-back artistry.

What excels in the music itself is not so much the beat as the absolutely captivating tune. Still, the beat gladdens the heart and the two (beat and tune) mutually reinforce. And they deliver to us a tropical feast of sight, sound and (techni)color that's irresistible and nourishing and deeply moving. 

Kiss Daniel's signature voice -- lush and always disarming, and here laced with naughty 'phrases' -- is simultaneously at the heart and the outer layers of the song. It is, so to speak then, the icing on this generous and lavish cake.

Click here for Kiss Daniel's Yeba, the video

Here are the Yeba Lyrics

Read: Jasper Efe (September 20, 2017) "Kiss Daniel: Yeba [Music]"










Text in para 4 partially updated (w/ an insert starting at Numbered years and ending with Younger): Nov 26, 2018

Alicios in a Poignant Posa Ya Bolingo

The title of Alicios' poignant song, Posa Ya Bolingo, is best translated, I think, as A Yearning for Love. Bolingo is a commonly-used word in popular Lingala songs. Lingala is a language widely spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Bolingo is admittedly a truly lovely and such a musical word for that lovely thing we know as Love. Even Love itself, as a word, pales in comparison. I dare say that the Swahili words for Love -- Pendo, or Penzi -- are Bolingo's worthy 'rivals'.

Click here to watch the Posa Ya Bolingo video

While Posa... literally means a yearning, a longing or a desire..., I think that after you've read Alicios' account of her family's desperate flight (while she was still a little girl) from the outbreak of armed combat across the DRC, and more specifically in her hometown of Goma in Eastern DRC -- to the relative safety of Nairobi City in distant Kenya -- you will begin to get more complex vibes, and allusions, from her high-emotion but tearless song (which she published on October 2, 2013). 

On the one hand, it is the loss, the seemingly utter loss, of her capacity for love that she moans -- whatever its cause. On the other hand, it is on her male partner she trains her blame for all the misery and the incapacity she feels, seeing all the pain as something he has caused her. Goma and DRC more generally seem to be a profoundly connecting factor, though, whichever way you look.

What we'll have to figure out in our different ways is whether the partner of whom she sings is a real character (personified or 'acted' by the man in the video) recollected from a past love she'd rather forget now, a fictionalized one used only for the purposes of weaving a pure artistic narrative, or the symbol of a real and much more terrifying and existential power she and her family once encountered, there in Goma. 

What is certain, in the meantime, is that Alicios sings of the absence, the loss indeed, of a love she once felt -- and which was love. Confoundingly, she also sings about it, about this pain of loss, in a truly lovely and even loving way. You would have thought that such cruelty as she narrates and such melodic tones and love as accompany the telling could not possibly be twin-products of the same state of mind -- but they are! And, I know for sure, the melody and the tone and the love will endure in our memories; as will the images of Alicios in that video.

READ: Kenya-based Congolese Singer Alicios Theluji Makes a Comeback

ALSO READ: Peter Oduor's "Up Close and Candid with Alicios Theluji..."

CLICK: 1. Posa Ya Bolingo Lyrics (With Swahili Translation)

                2. Posa Ya Bolingo Lyrics (With English Translation)

MUSIC: Akothee's Amazing Bougerle

I must confess I had never seen Akothee's Bourgele until fifty minutes ago. Isn't it a sumptuous piece of music video? It has all the verve, hoarse and irrepressible laughter (a la HRC), high-energy motion and girlie karate kicks (which wouldn't hurt a fly) that we have come to know her for. And, as we now know, she can sing in many tongues.  She wags, then; as much as she can twerk. And, with the cameraman's collusion, she can do you the ladies' version of swag -- but not here.

[I think "Bouger le" means to move something. You guess what that suggests in pop music. It's plentiful in the video]

Akothee "Nya Kadera" sings wonderfully here in Lingala -- with a pinch here and there of French, Swahili and dare-devil Dholuo. We know from other 'sources' that she speaks more refined Swahili than most bara Kenyans -- and nearly all of Kenya's politicians. Just a sunny, sunny production, this! Stunning/charming VSO (= Voice, Sound and Optics) -- in sum. Credit too to Sarkozie, who's very much there in the mix of this 2015 production.


Click here to watch the Bougerle video

MUSIC: The Nigerian Voice

I.
In a piece on Patoranking's Make Am which I posted on January 1st this year, I made these remarks on the sounds that typify Nigerian music for us non-Nigerians: 

"...one of the most attention-grabbing songs out of Nigeria right now (certainly to me), and which I think is distinctly Nigerian and truly accomplished in its vocal heaves and turns -- the kind we other Africans will hear, perhaps in a supermarket or on radio, and quickly say "That's Nigerian" -- is KJV's Common Sense (forget the awkwardly hilarious 'bedroom' shenanigans which we may blame on the story-line, but which might in turn be blamed entirely on a portion of the lyrics). It's such a memorable song."

Make Am itself, I thought, had a distinctly Great Lakes and Rivers ring. I still do, but that's another line of thought. What I want to say a little more about here is what I see as the Nigerian Voice in African music. There is a background to that, too, which we should touch on as we proceed.

Nigerian musicians, individually and collectively, nowadays seem to produce much more music -- more good music -- in any given month than most Eastern and Southern African musicians, for example, do in a whole year. They currently dominate in the same way as their compatriots do in cinema. This dominance is, of course, helped along by two TV channels with a continent-wide reach:

1. HipTV, which is controlled by a Nigerian magnate, as I understand.

2. AfroPop, which to many viewers is Nigerian in all respects (including 'musical taste' and preferences) though it supposedly has Angolan and Portugues roots and/or links. AfroPop hardly gives airplay to Angolan, or Lusophone, music. 

These two channels, together with MTV Base and Sound City (both of which still have a distinct bias for European and US music) already have a tight grip on the DStv's musical ecosystem -- which is the only pan-African network "in town." To non-Nigerian artistes and the wider African audience, if you don't appear via DStv, it's like you don't exist at all. If Kenya is anything to go by, national TV channels are clueless about giving structured airplay to artistes who deserve regular exposure. 

It may be a chicken-an-egg paradox: How do you launch such a TV program if there are not enough 'straight-off-the-oven' songs for a 24/7 proposition? Well, Trace Africa, the fifth music channel, provided the emphatic and perfect answer this past September with its split into Trace Mziki (for Eastern African music) and Trace Naija (for the Nigerian audience, but available to East African viewers as well). But more on all this on another occasion.

Given all the changes (some potentially seismic) that one suspects lie ahead, the Nigerian Voice continues to be the leading voice in African music today, but perhaps not for long. 

II.
It wasn't always the case that this Nigerian Voice dominated the airwaves. This dominance goes back only about four years, at most. First, as far as I can personally remember of the preponderance of the songs we heard in colonial Nairobi day-to-day, and specifically on public holidays when other distractions were largely muffled, it was South(ern) African (Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, DorothyMasuka and others). 

In the late Fifties and early Sixties, Congolese music began to erode the South African influence, and by the mid-60s had practically carried out a sweeping overthrow -- aided by autonomous accomplices in Kenya's lake region. It was not just the melody and the tunefulness, it was also the opportunity it gave for impassioned, up-close dancing. Thereafter, it reigned for almost forever, fusing with local styles to spawn a highly influential Eastern African sound that came to be known as Benga. 

READ: 10 Greatest Musicians From South Africa

West African music (spearheaded by icons like Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango, Osibisa and all that High Life stuff) began to assert its influence in the early Seventies. It did not completely displace Congolese music, however. Pockets of resistance stayed with Lingala, particularly in proletarian and rural areas. But it can still be said that this West African sound soon morphed in two ways: (a) It became less "High Life" as influences from the Caribbean kicked in; and (b), it turned, in the period since c. 2013, more emphatically Nigerian. This Nigerian era is in turn already under threat -- certainly from increasingly assertive and reflective Eastern African voices. More on this in conversations to follow. 

[incidentally, as I began to write this blog post on Christmas Day afternoon, Trace Mziki (Channel 741 on DSTV) had a retrospective on African legends -- #FOCUS MZIKILEGENDS -- featuring a number of Southern African icons such as Miriam Makeba (she who was made famous by a classic Tanzanian song, Malaika, which she made famous), but also latter-day heroes and heroines from both South Africa and a larger swathe of the continent, including Brenda Fassie, Lucky Dube, Alpha Blondy, and Papa Wemba]  

READ: Makeba's bio and the Malaika Lyrics in Swahili and English translation


III.
The Nigerian Voice has a multiplicity of forms and content. It is a self-confident voice. Its lyrics are the most creative in both their written and sung forms, aided by the fact that pidgin is the almost inescapable component of the language used in any popular song. Pidgin has built into it the most linguistically confounding, intriguing, mesmerizing, frustrating and undecipherable expressions and turns of phrase -- certainly to the hapless outsider. It adds a flavor to the songs that's not encountered elsewhere, and is thus most bewitching.

This Nigerian Voice is supremely creative. It is gifted with the most poetic language, rivaled only by Lingala. The artistes mix and match the words they have had at their disposal since childhood in the most astounding ways. Thus they really, collectively, bear the African music flag still.

To highlight this varied voice, here's an A to Z sampling (and only a sampling) of Nigeria's Musical Pantheon -- The Triple Dirty Dozen of sorts:

1. Adenkule Gold ~ Orente, Sade
2. Boj ~ Paper, Ire
3. Burna Boy ~ (w/ AKA,...) All Eyes On Me, Soke, Pree Me
4. Cheezy Chi ~ She Need Am, Monica, MAYE
5. Chidinma ~ Fallen in Love, For You
6. Davido ~ Fans Mi, Ekuro, Gobe
7. D'Banj ~ Emergency, Knocking on My Door, Extraordinary, 
8. Di'ja ~ Awww
9. Don Jazzy ~ (ft. Reekado Banks x Di'ja x Korede Bello) Adaobi, (ft. Korede Bello x Tiwa Savage x Dr. SID x Korede Bello x Di'ja x D'Prince) Dorobucci, (w/ Timaya) I concur
10. Falz ~ (ft. Reekado Banks) Celebrity Girlfriend, (ft. Simi) Soldier, (w/ Simi) Chemistry
11. Mr. Flavour ~ (ft. Tiwa Savage) Oyi Remix, Gollibe, (ft. Chidinma) Ololufe 
12. Humblesmith ~ (ft. Mr. Flavour) Jukwese, (ft. Davido) Osinachi
13. Iyanya ~ (ft. Don Jazzy x Dr. Sid) Up 2 Sumting, (ft. Mr. Flavour) Jombolo, Type of Woman
14. Kiss Daniel ~ Laye, (ft. Davido x Tiwa Savage) Woju, (ft. Sugarboy) Upon Me
15. KJV ~ Common Sense
16. Lola Rae ~ (ft. Davido) Biko, One Time 
17. Korede Bello ~ Mungo Park,  Do Like That, (ft. Tiwa Savage) Romantic
18. Mr. Eazi ~ (w/ Eugy) Dance for Me, (w/ Eugy) Body, Hollup 
19. Olamide ~ (ft. Don Jazzy) Skelemba, MVP, Story of the Gods, Bobo, Melo Melo, (w/ Stormrex) Walk With Me
20. Oritshe Femi ~ (ft. Reminisce) Tomorrow, Igbeyawo, (ft. D'Banj) Double Wahala Part 2, (w/ El Phlex) Aiye Mi, Awoo Ewaa.
21. Patoranking ~ Daniella Whine, (ft. Wande Coal My Woman, My Everything)
22. Phyno ~ Connect, Nme Nme, (ft. Stormrex) Nnunu, (ft. Olamide) Fada Fada
23. PSquare ~ Bank Alert, Beautiful Onyinye
24. Niniola ~ Jigi Jigi, Akara Oyibo, 
25. Rayce ~ Tetela, Wetin Dey 
26. Reekado Banks ~ (ft. Don Jazzy) Sugar Baby, Oluwa Ni, Katapot
27. SDC (ft. Poe x Boj) ~ Feel Alright
28. Sean Tizzle ~ (ft. Tiwa savage) Sho Lee, Igi Orombo
29. Seyi Shay ~ Jangilova, (ft. Olamide) Pack and Go
30. Simi -~ Tiff, Jamb Question, Open and Close
31. Skales ~ Shake Body, Temper
32. Skuki  ~ (ft. Olamide) Peteru, (ft. Tiwa Savage) Gbemileke, (ft. Phyno) E Pass Go
33. Tiwa Savage ~ My Darling, Wanted
34. Vector ~ EMI, (ft. Phyno x Reminisce x Classiq x Uzi) King Kong Remix
35. Wizkid ~ Ojuelegba, (ft. Femi Kuti) Jaiye Jaiye, (ft. L.A.X) Caro, (w/ Justine Skye) U Don't Know Me
36. Yemi Alade ~ Johnny, (ft. Phyno) Taking Over Me,


IV.

If, by way of a conclusion, I were to choose out of the 36 (and others not mentioned) the half-dozen artistes most representative of the Nigerian Voice today, I would single out these: Oritse Femi, Olamide, Phyno, Yemi Alade, Simi and Tiwa Savage. So there you are.