MUSIC (Eritrea): Rahel Kibreab's "Men yu Zeyebis":

Rahel Kibreb’s song, Men yu Zeyebis, is a ballad of the highest order of artistic intent and execution. This Eritrean singer’s written lyrics are unavailable to me, and wouldn’t in any case make sense without a translation from Tigrinya into a language I understand.

But that language barrier, that visible-invisible wall, is part of the human condition in this global village of ours; a village that’s increasingly multicultural in its day-to-day affairs, and densely inter-networked by speed-of light communication technologies and social media. It’s a village likewise put together by rapid transportation and the attendant (and resultant) need and want to connect – to connect from the grassroots all the way up to wherever “up” is, for anyone. 

Watch Men yu Zeyebis here

The truth is: not knowing the verbal language of a song hardly stopped baby-boomer folks from savoring a good song they could otherwise hear and, better still, see. They could tell a good song by tuning (zeroing) in on the sounds and the vibes – and on the beats and, wherever possible, body texts. It won’t stop Millennial types or any others either.

Rahel Kibreab’s performance here is of truly epic proportions. She sings with great passion and drive -- and an abundance of belief in her own talent and craft. The impact of her voice is reinforced by the stellar support of an invisible band, whose presence is nevertheless emphatic and indubitable. She clearly grew up in a community for which her kind of music was second nature. Her singing, I suspect, is a telltale sign of a form of cultural life in which the proverbial troubadour, whatever the local name, would have felt right at home.  And if the script of the video accompaniment is anything to go by, her song’s underlying theme is in the end a perennial one: Love and Fidelity and Betrayal -- and all the attendant triangles and absences and twists and turns and prisms of suspicion.

MUSIC (Ethiopia): Zomawa by Hahu Beatz x Selamawit Yohannes

  

The art in this Ethiopian song, Zomawa, is thoroughly and refreshingly pop. Eyes and ears will both pop, in a first encounter with this superb and unheralded rendition of funk from the continent’s Far East.

Two stars shine and outperform in this 2018 clip, which is both visually and aurally elegant and irresistible. Hahu Beatz, who I encounter for the first time, has multiple roles here. Besides being one of two star singers – and a contributor to the lyrics – his ‘hand’ and mind both feature in the design of the song’s melody as well. And he is, most notably, the Video Director. In hindsight, all of that leaves an indelible imprint on our sensibilities.

As for Selamawit, I’ve heard (seen) her before, and know her talent. I’ve heard her in Hambel, for example, which is in fact a more recent release than Zomawa, being a 2019 production. I’ve also heard her in Senay, Milesh, Bel Jalo and Nafkot (the last with Fikremariam Gebru) – but never in this “key”, not in this Zomawa mode. Still, they’re all milestones – all place-names of sorts – in her artistic journey.

Watch Zomawa here  

Zomawa, a fine dancehall piece, has a rousing beat and projects an equally upbeat mood. Spiced with fine bits and moments of rap as it is, which are reminiscent of King Kong Remix, it stands out quite decidedly in these parts for its refreshing and hard-to-beat melody. And this reminds one of a simple truth, and validates it: Rap and Melody need not be strange bed-fellows. All they need are two pillows of a kind. There is, finally, refreshing theatricality in the video as well, capped with the cameo appearances of two universal clowns. The stage set is, for all that, altogether inspired.

Kena!

Kena!

Kena!

MUSIC (Ethiopia): Misekir by Fikreaddis Nekatibeb

Misekir (or Miseker) means Witness in Amharic, so tells us Akel Dama in one of the comments below the clip. Ethiopia’s Fikreaddis Nekatibeb’s song by that title, which we have here, is a love ballad for the ages, though sung only in 2015. It is, over and above that, a truly remarkable auditory performance; a relentless melody backed by a talented band of two: a pianist with nimble fingers and a fine clarinet player.

The audience we see in the clip is sparse and scattered around a quaintly furnished Bar and Restaurant. It looks like an after-dinner group of like-minded folks with many connections. It’s an exclusive crowd, hurriedly put together. In number, it’s nothing compared to the nearly 8.5 million YouTube views which Fikreaddis already had at the end of the third week of May 2019.

Here’s how the song launches, with loving lines, into the ether:

“Witness – let there be a witness and let my breath be heard.   

Let my answer be heard for the kind of love you showed me.

Who can I possibly be for the thoughtful one?”

Watch the Misekir clip

The rest is for the viewer/listener to find out – and savor – and soar, in spirit, with. The beat will get you, whoever you are, there. There’s an encore even, which stretches the visible song to 9:55 minutes of an unforgettable blend of vocal and played sounds.

Sings Fikreaddis Nekatibeb, further:

“With my eyes, with my own eyes

With my eyes, I saw love with my own eyes”

What a lilting, lyrical treat!

Music (ZA): Skeleton Move by Master KG ft. Zanda Zakuza

Zanda Zakuza's profound and nostalgia-inducing intonation -- "Remember the road that will lead you home" -- drives the entire ajenda in this enigmatic song. And this despite the fact that the Skeleton Move clip seems primarily intended to highlight, and to continue, the pure-form -- the uncluttered -- sensation of body texts (of dance) so characteristic of South African pop music today. Her voice drives home the simple but easy to forget idea that home, wherever it be and whatever form or shape it may take, frames all our lives and all our orientations. This soaring, hi-spirited 2018 song carries with it all the mirth and mythology, known and unknown, that the very idea of home, truly missed, ignites. 

Here's the clip of Skeleton Move by Master KG ft. Zanda Zakuza

The pitch here is not simply to never forget -- forget in a cerebral or abstract or plainly existential sense -- your rooted place of abode. It is, instead, and more deeply even, to remember (nay, to know) that very same road, at once proverbial and real, which, when the time and the urge to go comes from whichever direction, leads you back to (and even past) what nest it is in whatever locale that's truly home. Home as the homing-pigeon, with an earnest heart, knows and finds and understands as its own -- its one and only One in all of the universe. In the end, you've got to know where to stop.

There's another dimension to the music that deeply moves, in its sung and danced forms -- in its multiple and manifest texts -- that truly captivates and immerses. It is the body-and-soul exhilaration of being home, of being there, of being back; amidst all that's familiar and all that's changed. It frames the visual and auditory vignettes in the rest of the song. The spirit moves the reunited to another realm, truly. Dance moves that would otherwise have remained trapped in their own unrelenting cliche acquire a different and richer, and enriching, purpose. And an especial freedom.

Music (AfroPop): Rosalina Remix by BM and Awilo Longomba

Awilo Longomba may not be, any longer, the firebrand of song (and dance) that he once was. But see what he and BM and their troupe have just gone and done to claim position 2 in #AfroPop 2018! 

Time has slowed him some, but Rosalina Remix is a summation of, a fitting tribute to, all that he represents -- the half-remembered dance moves, the (now more carefully controlled) crowing, the refined turns-upon-a-pinpoint. The sunny, sunny and electrifying mien! Remember Karolina? Remember Coupe Bibamba? Remember Cache Cache? Remember them all -- and the other hits?


Click here to watch the Rosalina Remix clip


The suave and super-coordinated dance-steps that we see and savor here evoke fond memories, for sure -- and remind us of 'nearly-forgot' excitements and things. And even an excitement of things -- and moments.

Regard the oh so colourful and mandatory dress-code! True summer fare, as only the tropics can give anchor to -- in a rapidly changing and increasingly wide-eyed world.  The dancing bodies fill the small screen with verve and restrained cheer -- ebbing and flowing into and out of sight. And promising a return at once rhythmic and throbbing and seductive. 








#TheYamboSelection

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.

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

MUSIC (LingalaPop): Ingratitude by Madilu System

Facebook just reminded me that this is the comment I made exactly six years ago (on May 26th 2012) about Madilu System's Ingratitude clip:

Part of the evolving genre of "Congolese Music"; a genre which we of my generation grew up on in Nairobi's Eastlands ( as did our peers elsewhere in Kenya and East Africa generally) -- years ago now (as Time flies)

I shared it right there. I thought I should share it here, too, and not add a word more.

Click here to watch the Ingratitude clip

MUSIC (Kenya): Rosa's InSide, feat Naiboi

InSide is a new club banger released in January 2018. It is a very "Nairobi" kind of song, but with a universal metropolitan beat. It is a "something new ...something borrowed" sort of moment. Rosa, the lead singer, is patently a new kid on the block -- I'd never seen or heard (of) her before this. She's so suddenly on the scene, and so fresh, she's literally improbable. But, out of the blue, here she is -- seamlessly layering her lyrical lines with phrases in English, Eastlands Swahili and Dholuo. 

With a mellow voice, she sings like a reigning star, back from a sabbatical she's not been around enough to earn. But her talent reveals itself and puts all queries to rest. Her tone and comportment suggest that where ever she's been -- here and even there, in the diaspora of one kind or another -- have all been good for (and to) her. She's hit the Nairobi musical scene with a sophisticated bang. She has great looks too, let's not beat about the bush, and uses both voice and cultured body with restrained self-confidence -- and to great effect. We're all the richer.

Naiboi joins her in this funky and disarming song, and I'm guessing that it is she who approached him for the song -- he being the more intricately networked in these parts. Not a bad choice if you have tracked his artistic progression and steep learning curve in the last couple of years or so. The song's title is InSide, but he makes it sound like a broken insider -- inisaida, in fact. No, there's no subliminal messaging there that I can pin down -- just a verbal prank helped along by a difficult set of syllables.

Click here to watch the video clip

MUSIC (LingalaPop): Fally Ipupa's epic Orgasy

Released in 2013, Fally Ipupa's Orgasy clip tells an intriguing visual and aural story with a line that's at once absorbing and inexplicably thin. It is 'absorbing' because its coherence is not immediately grasped and must, if possible, be patiently unravelled. It is 'inexplicably thin' because, to have meaning, stories such as this must have a certain density, proportionality and coherence of text, all of which it in fact lacks. 

I say stories such as this because Orgassy is all wrapped up in a symphony of really, really heavenly and finely-weaved tapestry of sounds. It is, indeed, an epic of sounds suggestive of events unfolding on a grand scale, and with unexpected turns at 'every turn' along the way. 

But, on the 'flip side', we find that the actual (that is, the visual) story-line which 'speaks' to our eyes does not live up to the expectations simultaneously engendered, in this world of music, by the more powerful audio narrative. Orgasy remains a great song, then, but is hampered in this clip by a visual story-line that's inexplicably flawed.

Click here to watch the Orgasy clip

MUSIC (LingalaPop): Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama by Cedric Embangu feat JB Mpiana

First appearances can be deceptive and wildly misleading. Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama (released in 2011) is a very charming song -- it turns out. But that's not how it looks at the beginning. Lead singer Cedric Embangu -- this unassuming singer with a high-pitched voice and at first sight an under-achiever -- only 'gradually' reveals himself, via his bundle of body texts, as a savvy interpreter of the mood and 'tones' that this 8:31-minute song packs. It is he, the alchemist, who must transform sound (any sound) into great sound, and thus give assurance of a great dance. As fine as they may be, the designated dancers depend on his delivery. 

He doesn't disappoint, even with a voice that's only a few notches louder than a typical one-on-one conversation requires. This is, of course, mitigated by its cultivated range, and even more by the more outwardly robust input from a supporting cast of singers. What's more, his voice grows on the listener's ear.

The finest aspect of this clip is certainly the dancing, a fact already implied above. We see this clearly from 2:45 minutes onward, but the transition already started at 2:39 minutes. Cedric Embangu is really, really "intoit" all the way -- body and 'soul'! If he can win with his singing, he conquers with his effortless dancing. 

What we have before us in this clip is truly stylized and synchronized rumba, and he leads the pack. Cool swag gives way to cool swaying, and swaying back to swagging. Paired dancing melts into group-flight (of fancy), and then back to the pairing -- and then back, again and again; all under the watchful eye of the out-of-sight video director. 

One scene gives way to another as well, and another to one -- all in the spirit of a unified whole. And yet the connecting thread remains the simultaneity and harmony of singing and instrument play. The ensuing rhythm is all-absorbing to the attentive ear, and masters the increasingly passionate dancing. The spirit of the whole thing is, in the end, the dancing.


 Click here to watch the Cherie Enlevee Djino Kezipama clip

MUSIC (LingalaPop): Incredible Yondo Sister's Mbuta Mutu

Incredible Yondo Sister is not so well known now outside the two Congos, as she once was. And even within them, her magnetic presence and appeal seem to have waned in recent years. Despite all that, she remains one of the very finest Congolese (nay, African) artistes, male or female, of any generation -- past and present. You just have to watch one of her video clips to know. 

Among her best are Perdue de Vue, Madi, Maweke, Mwana Kenta, Wapi Yo, and Mbuta Mutu. But you must also see her inspired avant-garde piece titled Duniya, which she sings in Swahili. It is the second song (which runs from 6:10 to 11:14 minutes) in the 8-piece retrospective published in 1992, a link to which I provide at the bottom of this page.

I choose to comment briefly here on only one of the above-mentioned songs: Mbuta Mutu (2015 version). The clip is, for me, a superb example of Yondo Sister's daring and absolutely absorbing artistry. In it, she dances with no restraint at all, as if possessed by the very words she sings and the very tunes her ears and lithe body attend to. She goes, in the end, totally wild here. Congo wild. She, the Great Rainforest Queen, rules a 'wilderness' world of funky sight and sound! If you haven't seen Yondo Sister, I dare say, you haven't seen anyone.

Click here to watch the Mbuta Mutu clip (2015 version)

I can confidently say, as I conclude, that every ear and every eye that Yondo Sister -- this '80s/'90s Girl, this female sapeur -- 'touched' with her voice, and her beguiling dance moves, surely none such remained ever the same. We are all the richer, who have heard her, and seen what she could do with her supple body; indeed, what magic became it. She is, and will forever be, at the very heart of #LingalaPop.

WATCH: A 1992 8-Clip Retrospective on Yondo Sister's Life as a Performing Artist

WATCH: A 2013 version of Yondo Sister's Mbuta Mutu

READ: Yondo Sister: A Biographical Sketch




NOTE: Much of the material in the second paragraph above first featured in my blog post titled LingalaPop, Volume 7.

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

MUSIC (AfroBeats): Nesly and Chidinma are All-Conquering in "All Right"

Two African Queens, Nesly and Chidinma, have teamed up in this magnificent song, All Right, to give us their very own and aurally gilded definition of a 'smashing' wimbo. We're all invited here, all of us, to a tonal fest; to an absolutely bewitching blend of visual and aural "tunes". The supporting cast of dancing ladies keep everything absolutely upbeat and on an evenly high keel.

The vocal harmony and the melody that we come upon -- and spiced they are with electrifying verve and pure joy -- are deeply immersing and all-conquering. The trailing and cascading echoes with which the singers' voices fill the air, and the universe, are so deeply entrancing and so indescribably African. They reinforce our sunny sense of place, and make us proud -- of us. They remind us of the depth and the beauty and the oft hidden strengths and settings of this vast continent that we call home.  


Click here to watch the All Right clip


NOTE: All Right, a song supposedly published on January 26, 2017, came to my attention only a quarter of an hour to midnight (GMT+3) yesterday, May 10th, 2018. Due 'credit' to YouTube algorithms.

BONGO MUSIC (Tanzania): Wet by Vanessa Mdee ft G Nako

Vanessa Mdee and G Nako, both from Tanzania, have dropped a finely crafted April (2018) song, titled Wet, that's sure to cause ripples of all sorts across the expansive African music universe. 

The wet and sweat memes about which they sing with such high spirits and so much naughtiness is deftly inter-weaved with tropical (rain-forest) images and fine feline moves to deliver a superbly up, up, upbeat audio and visual ambience. Everyone's plainly having a good time.  

Wet/Sweat, sung mainly in Swahili and spiced with English phrases and lines (and vice versa), has a sizzling Bongo fLava flow, too. On all counts, the accompanying video clip delivers a hi-energy and superbly entertaining performance, with non-stop cabaret-style verve -- all under the watchful eyes of Director Justin Campos.

The beat is superb, and the rhythm (both vocal and instrumental) is all-enveloping. The whole do is spearheaded without a seam by the irrepressible Vee Money. Her piercing "O nana" shout-out has a seductive tropical charm. Without a doubt, G Nako also plays his co-star role with great style and self-assurance. 

There are no holds barred in this boundary-extending clip, all told; but none needed to be. All that we have we had to have. And so art advances along this line, as it does along others, as we watch 
and savor.

Click here to watch the video clip

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 

MUSIC (Kenya): Nairobi by Mayonde feat Stonee Jiwe

Sunny Nairobi City has a worthy, and just as sunny, champion in Mayonde and her co-singer, Stonee Jiwe -- who is obviously at peace rapping and lingering in the video clip's less-lit places. Their 2017 song of Nairobi was a risky conception, but the duo has swept all that aside -- with great cheer(fulness) and unabashed love for their city. The team, of two, certainly doesn't pander to any powers that be -- unlike Mbilia Bel, whose Nakei Nairobi blatantly and sadly did.

The video clip doesn't quite have the tell-tale grandeur of Olamide's own Lagos. And one gets the sense that Mayonde and Stonee unwittingly undersell Nairobi here, even as Mayonde's smiles and upbeat 'manner' hug everyone in, and out of, sight with unrestrained enthusiasm. 

Still, Mayonde looks good and has the presence of a worthy ambassador. She's going to be an influencer, for sure. So much potential. She mentions in the song many of the place-names that dot and map out the city -- more than well enough for those who are already its living markers in those very same locales that she mentions (and more): South C, South B, 111, Westie, Kangemi, Dondii (!), Bama, Buru Buru, Mathare, Kawangware. You see in that list the places that the spirit is comfy with. And so be it. 

Images of downtown Nairobi are sort of flipped through, though, and rushed in the clip. Many are seen in the dimming light of a rapidly retreating evening. What the Director had in mind only the Director knows. But one thing is in no doubt at all in all of this: Mayonde does love her city. She clearly prefers the peri(er) sides; but that's OK, too. Comparisons between her Nairobi  (see the video at the link given below) and Jua Cali's Karibu Nairobi are bound to be made.

"I love my city
O yes I do,
Na na na Nairobi" ~ Mayonde declares

Click to watch her do Nairobi thing

MUSIC (Nigerian): KJV's voice in Common Sense

In my post on Patoranking's song titled Make Am, I made the remarks that I reiterate below about the distinctive Nigerianness in KJV's song titled "Common Sense". I revisited those arguments in a piece that I later wrote, and in which I sought to pin down with some examples the particular features of what I understood to be The Nigerian Voice --  which I see as such a hugely consequential component an even larger voice: "the African Voice". 

Critics may of course want to be persuaded that there is indeed a unified African Voice, as opposed to a rich montage of Voices. Some may indeed push that argument to what may seem, to them, its logical conclusion. That is, by querying the very notion of a 'single' Nigerian Voice. But I'll soldier on, remembering that in our student days in the US, it was fairly easy to tell a Nigerian's voice apart from other West African voices -- and certainly from East African "ones". 

Here is what I said about KJV's "Common Sense":

"...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."

You can tell from the lyrics (see the link below) that there's a unified theme in the video and the lyrics, and that it is, unsurprisingly, rather frivolous. But that's beside the point I'm making here. I'm talking about form, not content. My attention is more particularly drawn to the vocal (the audio) 'identity' (or markers) of the song that makes it so copiously representative of a genre I've called the Nigerian Voice. 

It is not just the accent, but you can't take accent out of the broader context of the song. Moreover, there is a big and inseparable chunk of it here. It is not just the lyrics, either; but the words are writ and voiced in an indubitably Nigerian tone. All of this is a matter of degree, of course -- between KJV's piece and what we hear in any selection from Olamide, Phyno, Wizkid, Don Jazzy, Davido, Patoranking, Kiss Daniel, Sugarboy, Korede Bello, Timaya and the like. But KJV voice stands out, and it is wondrously heavy-duty and relatively/infectiously 'unvarnished'. Hey, it's neither Ghanaian nor Congolese, nor South African, nor Tanzanian. It's not Kenyan, for sure. Far from it, in fact. And it's not Angolan (if you're thinking of C4Pedro), or Ugandan, or Togolese. It's not Cameroonian, either. Just listen to the singer's vocal rendition of these already very Nigerian lines:

"Jeje I dey eyeh nile alayo

The boys are happy 

And the girls are joyful 

Before you know oya 

We dey my place aha 

She take a selfie 

On top my bently"


Click to watch the Common Sense video

Here are the Lyrics for KJV's Common Sense

As I conclude, I want to say this: I'm sure that Nigerians in London can quickly tell a Nigerian voice when they hear one. In music, KJV's voice is distinctively such a one -- for me at least. Incidentally, KJV is shorthand for King Jiggy Vokal.


READ (for content): Thomas Paine's Letter/Post to Revolutionary Americans about "Common Sense"

Yemi Alade's Johnny

In the eyes of many, and perhaps most, connoisseurs of African pop music, it was Johnny that, in 2014, put the continent on notice about Yemi Alade's great artistic gift. The song soon became  an anthem of sorts at certain public gatherings. You saw how this played out a year later at the MTVMAMA2015 in South Africa.

Click here to watch the official Johnny video

Johnny's impact was felt on radio, too, where I first heard it in 2014 -- with that distinctive (shall I say sexy?) Yemi Alade voice. A girl determined to get her Johnny (to behave) always wins hearts -- many, many more than she may lose.

The song has a crisp beat, and is upbeat all the way through. It's a superb piece for the dance hall as well. The first 42 seconds of the video (and the segment that runs from 3:32 to 4:11 minutes) could have been dispensed with, however, without any loss to Yemi's artistic expression in this song. That's a total of 82 seconds. In fact, those 'prosaic' seconds detract from this 5:16-minute video. All in all, however, a great and enduring song. 

NOTE: Jonny's popularity with the fans is reflected in the number of all-time YouTube views it has so far garnered; that is, 86,582,184 views as at 7:10 PM (EAT) on March 19, 2018.

MUSIC (Kenya): So Alive by Sage feat. Octopizzo

On page 8 of Friday's (March 16, 2018) issue of "bdlife", which is an insert of the Weekend Edition of Kenya's Business Daily, Bill Odidi has a richly detailed piece titled "Gospel Music Mixes with Afropop at Koroga". He writes about a "Queens Rock" Koroga Festival scheduled for this weekend, at the Carnivore Grounds in Nairobi. 

Among the Queens to rock at (to rock) the event are Nigeria's (nay, Africa's) irrepressible Queen, Yemi Alade; Kenya's renowned Gospel Singer, Mercy Masika; and Sage, whose other name, as I learnt only in the last 18 hours or so, is Chemutai. Despite her talent, Sage remains largely invisible on the "fast-moving" pop scene. 

Here are three pieces that I recently wrote about Yemi Alade's art:

1. Someone Call 911

2. Ofana Nawe

3. Go Down.

I haven't written a piece on Mercy Masika, though I have listened to a few her songs and watched a video or two. I believe that I soon will. I haven't written about Sage either -- until now, in this unfolding piece. However, she did feature with Octopizzo at number 10 on #TheYamboSelection list of "East Africa's Top 25 Pop Songs of 2013" -- and, of course, on East Africa's Top 10 Pop Songs list of that year. The particular song for which the two were honoured is in fact the one mentioned in Bill Odidi's article -- that is, So Alive. It is the one about which I wish to say what follows.

Click to watch the video

In So Alive, sophisticated Sage -- whom one knew nothing about till this moment -- gives one (gives us), despite all the 'after party' clutter (plus more) and the affected 'drowsiness' that we see in the opening images, a superbly crafted song (plus the video it's couched in). She (and her singing) is paced for a handful of delightful seconds by an inspired piano play(er). It's truly So Alive in every musical sort of way. And it's defiant, too; and even celebratory -- in the wake of all the odds that the singer has been through. You see this clearly in the lyrics (see the link given below).

We are treated to fine, fine melody; and warm lyrical lines as well. The beat is memorable, too. But I think that it's Sage's voice that's the dominant sound here. It is what you remember after the song is long over. It sets the tone for everything. And it's the reason you savor, amidst all the confounding schedules -- and all the juggling that one has to master these days -- any opportunity to play it, and other favorites for sure, once more. And then again.

Octopizzo makes his 'entry' into the song, and the video, after some two minutes. He infuses the do with his wry and super self-confident rapping style that's packed with a familiar montage of urban and peri-urban memes. But he clearly takes the back-seat here. All-in-all, however, his artistic stature certainly keeps on rising with performances like this. When you track his record, away from the headlines, he's in fact quite a star. But he could obviously do with (just) a little less of the self-adulation that seems to creep into 'most every song of his.

The optics of So Alive are so effortlessly artistic. Much credit to J. Blessing, for sure, who's the "Flicks" Director. The whole set reminds one of those large-canvas (and larger-than-life) paintings by the Masters which are nowadays being set in gingerly motion and shown on Twitter and other social media. To splendid effect.

Click here to read the fine lyrics for So Alive

READ: Octopizzo's TBT

NOTE: So Alive currently has 289,114 YouTube Views