Every ardent fan of contemporary African music -- and who thus (or also) knows something about her -- seems to love Nigeria's Cynthia Morgan, for different puzzling reasons. I do know less than most, and hence, perhaps, the puzzle. Still, I sense that only scattered handfuls of people, even in her own country, pay informed/knowing and truly sustained attention to her craft and so, so to speak, consciously follow her, by widely downloading her tracks; or otherwise shadow her artistic journey in any coherent or avid way. But she's become a star -- all, it seems, of a sudden! I've really been struck by that, these past dozen days or so.
I don't include in the crop of onlookers I've alluded to those who design nomination procedures for music awards, or those they task with actually naming names for the giving. Perhaps Cynthia Morgan's cultivated bad girl image endears her to them, and to those channel mandarins not so included who actually decide on what tracks to air and how often, and so make them the most money. Of course, the airing 'inflates' the coffers, which is always the wanted thing -- if not the only good thing. And it bloats subsequent pageviews for the tapped ones.
And then you break up the award categories and look at the segmented numbers and exclaim to all and sundry, seeing no need for further explanation: "Eureka! Here's the one, here." Or the two. Or the three. The numbers now speak for themselves and influence the 'popular' voting that follows, and that in turn validates the numbers; or something like that. Perhaps this is the subconsciously nagging and fuzzily internalized substance behind Olamide's recent verbal lunge at maestro Don Jazzy.
Though the times are changing, we still live inside the boundaries of highly fractured totalities here in Africa, as in the rest of the world. Much of the music that we hear alongside our day-to-day pursuits does not have the force to nurture, inside our still exceedingly parochial ears, substantial 'cross-over' fidelity such as should lead to more than moments of truly listening to and fairly appreciating, and so appropriating, otherness. Beyond borders, ears resist even more stubbornly all invitations, which are more and more frequent nowadays, to cross over and embrace difference -- and, often, the star-quality recordings that difference represents that's not quite amply evident at home, yet. Commercial decisions mirror the parochialism, which justifies them. Its a (mostly) vicious circle, which smart technology and changing lifestyles are only now beginning to significantly disrupt. Enough of that, though, for now.
I prefer Shower Me, by Jumabee and Cynthia Morgan, to German Juice, which is sung by her 'alone'. In both form and content, German Juice is more crass than art; and more of a mundane, habitual activity than a creative, generative one. But, for reasons broadly explored above, it has stirred many fans, as evidenced by 396,484 pageviews up to most recently (11:16 a.m, January 9th, 2016). It is even the reason Cynthia Morgan was nominated for The Best Reggae/Dancehall Single at the 2015 Headies. She won the award, too!
In contrast to German Juice, Shower Me has attracted only a small number of (online) fans (7,900 pageviews at 11:18 a.m. on January 9th, 2016), who in similar circumstances elsewhere are dubbed a cult following. But the song shows greater creativity, by far, than German Juice. It displays more passion and more vocal courage, not to talk of vocal range. As voice is 'connected' to the ear, and only the ear, this is also aural courage. German Juice does not demand such courage, but displays only faithfulness to what one is, in a looping kind of effect, stuck with -- as she herself has implied following her award at the Headies 2015. But Shower Me is evidence enough that this reggae-induced, 'populist' frame of mind ensconced in an "auto-pilot" kind of habit, which artistes have difficulty parachuting from, can be meliorated at the rough edges, and even breached to great effect, by sheer tinkering and reflective, empathetic disruption.
There's so much mutually-reinforcing melody and harmony and pitch in Shower Me; so much attention-catching symphony of voices and sounds. It's a ballad, for sure, and a duet; a duet which is neither a spectacle nor a treat of musical 'chairs' offered for its own sake, but a unity of vocal opposites -- a smooth-flow of yin-yang -- subtly guided by known laws of motion. Jumabee's baritone makes this song soar, and soar. His golden roar makes the whole vocal mix heavenly. One feels levitated by this whole song, for all of 4:14 minutes! Shower Me, then, is a work on the road, surely and squarely, to fine art; and is itself a road to there. I think the road reaches its destination.
Another video which strengthens Cynthia Morgan's credentials as a diva is Simatiniya, in which superstar Burnaboy happily makes a silent -- as in silent movie -- appearance, and steals 'a real kiss'. She has sung, with passion and dedication, in a good number of songs already, and this certainly makes her stand out. But if I were to 'shower' her, right now, with an award and all that goes with it, it would be for Shower Me -- with ample reference to Simatiniya (229,741 pageviews at 11:15 a.m. on January 9th, 2016).
Here, click to watch the video, and mjienjoy
HERE: German Juice, immersed in typical reggae tunes and tones, and 'stage'-managed mannerisms. You tell the difference.
