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"

Dede by Mimi Mars

A relaxed and confident Mimi sings an adorable song here, about all those hard-to-express love feelings that felt Love easily engenders. It has a lovely tone, too, which is just fine for all the "tamu, tamu" of idealized, adoring Love. 

Click to watch the video

The singing is accompanied with laid-back and pleasant tunes, in this sunny proposition. She's on her back for more than a good portion of the episode. But that's OK, really. It even adds variety to the customary postures -- the ones that one gets to expect in a music video these days. 

A holiday mood envelopes the whole thing, in the end. And it carries you along -- to wherever.

MUSIC: KO-C's Optimistic Theme in Bollo c'est Bollo

Bollo c'est Bollo is a motivational song with a wonderful beat, and a rousing harmony of tunes. It's a call to 'action' for anyone who might feel let down or left behind in life's inexorable march through time and geography. It uplifts the spirit.

Click here to watch the video

The tone is, well, earnest -- and with some urgency to it. The song is sung in French and partly in English. We do have below a full translation of the lyrics into English. A write-up on the song, at this 237Showbiz site, should also help to discern the song's deeper meaning. 

Any music, sans the lyrics, is never translated or even translatable, of course. Certainly, unless one wants to treat a critique of form as a form of processing implicit content into another kind of language -- a translation (better still, an interpretation), in short. Here, I'd rather simply talk about the music (the sounds in general) and interpret the lyrics. 


Watch: Cyndy Vox's fine rendition of "Bollo c'est Bollo"
Read: The "Bollo c'est Bollo" lyrics.
Read: A Comment on KO-C's "Bollo c'est Bollo"

Magasco's Bella

In Bella, Magasco (who was so impressive in Zamba) shows just how deep his vocal talent runs, and how pleasant it is -- even when the theme is not so 'Biblical'. Here, he pivots his singer's voice to a loving tone -- and to his one and only, his (proverbial) Bella.

Click to watch the video

His is a promise of constant love, which no self-respecting girl will take without a little salt-shake. And so, which Bella? "They know there is nothing there for two". 

Still, all pop music is make-believe, and on the face of it -- of the relationships which its purveyors have in real life -- all too often promiscuous and promise-breaking. And yet, what a captivating song! So so sunny the vibes! So so sunny a day!

Click here for the Bella lyrics

MUSIC: Lola Rae's One Time

Young though she still is, Lola Rae has already packed some serious time and talent into her musical journey. And the effort's already bearing ample fruit.

HERE: Something about Lola Rae

Lola's enchanting music video, One Time, produced by Twenty20 Media in 2016, is a feast of song and hi-spirited dance. She, the leading and only voice, is both single-minded and self-assured. Her Afro-Reggae offering is a fusion of colors -- all shades of color -- dancing light, and fluid bodies, all moving in a combo of sound and unspoken, gesticulated text. 

Her song speaks to the proverbial rude boy and rude girl, and her egging, in that irresistible tone of hers, is more intoxicating than any root-beer (ha! ha!) can be to a man-child, or his naughty sister. All the stuff that's here is lovely, and here's all tinsely, but for the absence of tinsel itself -- in this cool set that's beyond make-believe.

The beat, it keeps coming at ya! It's persistent. It's hi-spirited. It's consistent. And yet as soft, as flowing, as silk. All-consumed with the tempo of the moment, the girls who have joined Lola in this feast, this feat, of camaraderie and feeling simply won't let up. 

Color and shapely forms. A bewitching cadence of (e)motion and sound. A suppleness of presence. A sense of earnest, burning desire. All these fill the air, and charm the view.

Naughty visual phrases pack the secret girls' room, too, where much of the action takes place -- to the chagrin of all them guys who cannot quite be in there, sorry.

c!

READ: The "One Time" Lyrics

AFRICAN POP: Oritse Femi's Igbeyawo

Oritse Femi is the undisputed King of Happiness in Africa's music industry. If I have said something akin to that before, without reservation -- as I have -- I happily say it again.

Here, I said this before:
1. Concerning the track Tomorrow, a piece featuring Reminisce
2. In my commentary on Double Wahala Part 2, a truly inspired piece sung -- with joyous mountaintop fervor -- with the irrepressible D'Banj.

And now, this is why we're really here, like this. And now, I wanted to say, Oritse Femi gives us Igbeyawo, a great song, which, I believe, draws one's attention like a magnet from the very first time one hears it. Igbeyawo is a Yoruba word for a wedding (or marriage). Good to know. Take a listen:


Click here to watch the video


READ: The lyrics of Igbeyawo


Igbeyawo is a high-spirited celebration of Love and the (shall I say related?) 'institution' of marriage, as it is lived in real life, which has innumerable versions and various ideal types. This, it so happens, is as apt as the next, or the last.

"Love is a beautiful tin", declares he, in a disarming and sincerest of voices.

Of course, like poets, singers, who are themselves poets and sometimes troubadours too, do have a licence to sing soaring songs without perhaps having to account for the higher truths which their songs urge us all to (up)hold and honor; without, that is, having to live their songs. It'd be nice, 'dough', if dey lived dem truts -- at least some of de time; some of de time dat deir songs continue to be sung, and heard, and such.

That doesn't matter here, though. We're just, we're easily, we're hopelessly caught up in this whirlwind of a tune. This sunny interlude in life's long and episodic journey -- and even magical.

There's a storyline. It's patchy, OK. Yet it allows for a moving wedding-day raga. There are flash-forwards. Some. And so, we hear the voice of The Master sing: "What God has joined together let no man put asunder." Asonder, too! And there is much joy. Much dancing. Early-days love. Lots of smiles all around. Things to eat. Everyone's in hi heaven, long as all the 'choy' lasts, and tru livin intrudes, as it's bound to. A mini-montage of images here. Territorial/cultural tussles with the Queen Mama. Hey, that's my wife's sufuria, there, Oritse! Inexorable forward motion.

Things go up, and they go down, and up again, but it's never, no never, quite a roller-coaster. Luv conquers all in the end -- just so that it can be said, without a doubt, that "Patience is a virtue".

What's never in doubt is Oritse Femi's passionate and finely crafted (tho with a touch of rasp) and entrancing and (oya) bewitching voice. He delivers his lyrics at the highest level of musicality. All that deeply earnest charm and pleading! There is no one, right now, quite like him on this planet.

My ears plainly like the mix of tones and beats and instruments, in full flights of fancy, that they're served by the very one. I like this song because my ears do. And because my eyes savor the colors and the nuances of all the body language implicated here.

'Double Wahala Part 2' by Oritse Femi and D'banj

In the honored tradition of the troubadour, Oritse Femi teams up with D'banj to offer us a delightful Double Wahala Part 2, which, I find, I like very much.

They ask for silence, but there's no silence here. Nonesuch. Not silence, but its very opposite. Creative pauses, yes. Some naughty Ness too. Constant motion punctuated with a great beat. Just, just a jam of a time!

Their high spirits and colorful tones, and stirrings, will stir everyone who, with a moment to spare, keenly listens and watches.

They're making some noise. Infectious noise. And they're player(ful). It's oosum!


Here, click and watch the video for yourself!