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I really enjoyed this song and the feeling that is brought out with this music. Fela Kuti and his band is able to mesh African music traditions with Western music traditions. An example of this is the use of Western instruments like the piano and electric guitar. There are aspects of African music traditions like the use of many polyrhythms within the percussion. Also around the 5:30 mark there is some call and response going on between Fela and the back up singers. I really enjoyed how the music starts of big and grand and then quiets down, while there are solos being played by the brass instruments. My favorite part is the tone and rhythm that the electric guitar plays throughout the song. It is the most gentled played chords, but in the most perfect way to create a head bopping rhythm that makes you want move.

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Witch was a rock band from Zambia back in the 70s. As the country got independent and open up, rock became a thing in Zambia. Many interesting band appeared at the time, Witch was one of them. This an instrumental piece, with organ, electric guitar, bass and drum. A really classic rock instruments set. The melody was mostly on the slight distortion. The organ was audible throughout the song, either on background or doing short solos. You can tell they were really influenced by the psychedelic rock genre from the 60s, really groovy song.

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I found this song while listening to and watching Afro-pop videos on youtube. The song sounds similar to a traditional pop song with the instruments and melodies used. The song is played in duple meter. It switches between monophony, homophony, and polyphony at times. There are times when the song is just the voices (at the end, for example) and there are times when there is a synth melody layered underneath the singers' voices, creating polyphony. There is also what seems to be a guitar with effects (reverb, perhaps?) that also carries parts of the melody at some points. This song is really beautiful and is a love song. Some of the translated lyrics that I found are "They won't win. They will not end us. Because this love will obviously not end over nothing." and I think that is so beautiful. To me, this means that people are trying to drive them apart but they will not let it affect them. The music video is also very good; it does a good job of reflecting the lyrics as the musicians are all dancing together and having a good time.

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Mafikizolo - Ngeke Balunge (Official Music Video)

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I found this song trying to find a song from South Africa. This song has very pop feel to it, with an upbeat duple meter beat played on a drum kit, and some happy "la la la" melodies in the intro to the song. There is also an electrophone playing the melody in the background the whole time, while the group of three switches between singing in unison, having call and response sections, and having just one singer at a time. The beat and the melody stay consistently upbeat and maintain a relatively quick tempo. The entire music video is shot in an old warehouse, and the three artists are flexing an old muscle car. The whole production seems to have a happy free attitude to it.

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I found this song in search of Afro-pop music, and I think Tiwa Savage is a very popular artist in this genre (all of her videos have millions of views). It has a consistent, upbeat tempo with a regular rhythm. It also has a simple duple meter. The beat it laid out by a consistent tapping (not claves, but something similar). I looked at the lyrics of the song, and she is talking about how politicians and important male figures are not the ones shamed when a scandal happens. She is trying to highlight the problem of the fact that prostitutes are looked down upon, but the men that are also a part of the encounter do not have to take any of the blame. One line says, "If money dey for pocket, Shebi na national budget o?" I think by this, Tiwa means that politicians and other figures may even steal money from their constituents in order to pay for prostitution, but they aren't ever held accountable for their actions. This upbeat dance song carries a much stronger and important message when you listen to the lyrics.

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I chose this song because I like that it is about how there is no place like home. No matter where you go hello your homeland will always be special and unique. This song is trans national in nature it’s about all of Africa not just one specific country. I can’t make out any specific instrument, but I know that they are percussion/ membranophone Instruments (maybe there are also electronically created sounds as well) that are constantly playing. I don’t hear any other kind of instrument. This song is double meter. This is a studio recording not live. The music has an upbeat tempo and has a regular rhythm.

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Yemi Alade - Africa ft. Sauti Sol (Official Music Video)

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Burna Boy - Onyeka Padlet by Andres Quintero

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Burna Boy - Onyeka Padlet by Andres Quintero

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I found this song on YouTube and I actually really liked it! It gives me summer vibes. It has a four on the floor beat and I can hear some claves, bongos, a trumpet, a sax, guitar, and maybe a harp. It is an upbeat song that makes you want to get up and dance. I believe this track captures the essence of afro-pop. A great dance song!

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Burna Boy - Onyeka [Official Music Video]

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For this Tuesday’s Padlet, I chose “Impi” by Juluka. The main reason I chose this song was because I have heard it many times while growing up, as Juluka was a favorite band of my parents growing up in Africa. Juluka is a South African band formed in 1969, who primarily perform their music in the language of the Zulu. The Zulu are a notable ethnic group in southern Africa, and the band also uses traditional Zulu instruments. In terms of the song’s lyrics, they talk about being forced from their homes and being enslaved under an oppressive regime. This matches with the anti-apartheid movements in South Africa in the 60s and 70s.  The song itself uses a combination of percussion and string instruments behind a harmony of singers, performing the song on a duple meter. The style of singing seems most similar to chanting during the parts sung in Zulu, but only a solo voice sings during the English portions.

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This song was very interesting as at the beginning of the song it sounds as though it was just a pop song. But as the song progresses you would hear traditional sounds that came from the culture. I heard some kind of flute instrument, techno beat, background vocalist, and main vocalist. I think that this music is different than other pop in how they transition between pop and South American music. The main vocalist would be singing in his pop voice and then would change it to his South American voice. Furthermore, the background vocalist has an impact on how the song theme is going to change.

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I found this song while on a YouTube search of popular Nigerian music. Magic System is the only Nigerian musicians i knew prior to class and i felt like i wanted to expand out more and find something new. I chose this song because i thought the beat was catchy as well as the main chorus. I don't understand everything Davido says in this song but he speaks in English at some parts of the song. I also thought this song was interesting because it incorporates elements of American hip hop. This goes back to the feedback loop we were talking about in class on Thursday. The song for the most part seems to be an electronically created beat with many different sounds probably put in my a sound engineer. It is in triple meter with a fast pace. The beat seems to be heavily influenced by rigatone music and is made professionally.

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Tiwa Savage falls under the Afro-pop music genre. Honestly, I chose this song because it features Naira Marley, who I originally thought was Bob Marley's daughter from the documentary Marley. After further research, I found out that was not the case. The song, on the other hand, is awesome. With a constant and regular rhythm, it holds a duple meter. The song itself is the story of a bounty hunter who is trying to capture corrupt government officials and making them pay what they owe. Ole was inspired by sounds of an Afro-beat founder named Pela Kuti. Tiwa Savage's music is a combination of strong Afrobeats, influenced instrumentation, and layered harmonies. This song is definitely for-export as it is upbeat and catchy. It has subtle sounds of membranophones and idiophones under the main autotune voice-synthesizer.

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I choose the song Gbona by Burna Boy which is a popular song on YouTube with 54 million views in two years. The song is very interesting and offers a catchy beat that catches the attention of the listener. Burna Boy is a Nigerian artist who rose to fame in 2012 and his become one of the most popular African Artist with music coming out monthly. He has won many awards and even won the African Artist of the year at the VGMA’s in 2020. The song and video create a powerful image in the listeners mind as it switches from a rough background to a different location with traditional dances. The song was written in a Duple meter and offers several different elements throughout the song. There are several instruments in the song, but the membranophones seem to connect the song the best. I noticed a polyrhythmic beat throughout the song, but the beat is well kept and steady. It also feels very up tempo, but you can see it slow down a little bit to talk about life. With a little of the lyrics, I could find he connects it to the rough life that is being lived. He talks about having no wealth and people calling the police as if they feel very powerless. He also states in the song towards the end that he doesn’t feel as if he fits in with everyone and they live a different life. Burna boy works to connect real life in his music and adds different tempos in his song to keep the listener intrigued. I think it’s also important to notice in the video his facial expressions changing when talking about an important topic. His connection with the world is what drives his music and having people connect makes his music extremely successful.

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Burna Boy - Gbona [Official Music Video]

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I chose the song Johnny by Yemi which is about a guy who cheating on a bunch of girls. The video is shot as a news interview where some guy goes to interview girls who all had interaction with Johnny. the song has a very up beat tempo there is only one singer and is very homophonic. the video has was funny as the video shows Johnny get what he deserved from cheating with four women.

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Yemi Alade - Johnny (Official Music Video)

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I listened to Jowo by Davido. Jowo by direct translation means please and the song is about a guy who is basically saying “at the end of the day, if I can be with you, we can enjoy ourselves”. It's a very upbeat tempo, which is interesting because in the music video it is about a man and a woman who are labeled as a target and people are trying to kill them with guns and knives, but in the end they come together and kill a man and they “enjoy themselves together”. The music is both homophonic, where the main melody comes from Davido, who also doubles as the star of the video, and also polyrhythmic, there is a combination of rhythm that make up the beat. The story of the music video was a little confusing, but I think the moral of it was that through anything, guns, knives, there were drugs, or whatever it might be, once the man and the woman come together they can be happy. Clearly, a very passionate song.

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I selected the song “Anybody” by Burna Boy, a popular Nigerian artist, due to its upbeat mood, infectious and pronounced polyrhythmic beats, and catchy melody. The song overall has a homophonic texture since the main melody, carried by Burna Boy’s baritone vocals, is accompanied by a polyrhythmic backtrack and brief, recurring saxophone riffs. These saxophone riffs complemented both the polyrhythmic backtrack and melody throughout the song, and its brassy tone added a unique flavor to the song’s timbre. Additional notable musical elements of the song include its duple meter and moderate tempo.

As much as I enjoy the aesthetics of this song, I was interested in its underlying meaning and found an interview featuring Burna Boy on Genius. According to Burna Boy, his music is often influenced by his environment and culture, and is intended to empower African communities on a local, national, transnational, and global scale. At certain parts of the song he references the exploration of his identity and power through his heritage (mentioned in the first verse), as well as his intent to promote international recognition of both the talents and challenges of the African youth (mentioned in the outro).

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Burna Boy - Anybody [Official Music Video]

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Ubomi Abumanga - Sun-EL Musician feat. Msaki 

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Ubomi Abumanga - Sun-EL Musician feat. Msaki 

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I chose the song Ubomi Abumanga by Sun-EL Musician feat. Msaki. Sun-EL Musician and Msaki are both from South Africa. “Ubomi Abumanga” translates from Xhosa to English as “Life Does Not Stop.” The lyrics in the song discuss how life continues to move whether you want it to, and that you should try and make the most of it because no one like you will exist when you’re gone. The song is very repetitive, with only the lyrics from the vocalist changing throughout the song. The song is homophonic, with the vocalist being the main melody. The main backbone of the song is made up of a polyrhythmic percussive beat, which sounds like it is made up of some combination of idiophones and melodic electrophones. Since Sun-EL is a DJ, I am assuming most if not all of the instrumentation are electrophones, with the rest of the accompaniment being a synth. There are aerophones in the form of high brass, but this only happens briefly near the end of the song. The song has an overall calming tone, with a bright timbre or sound. I enjoyed how this song mixed the different musical voices together, even the vocalist sounds blended equally into one almost undifferentiated sound.

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Sun-EL Musician Feat. Msaki - Ubomi Abumanga (Official Music Video)

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I chose this song because I liked this group when we heard them in class and wanted to find a song by them for this padlet. The song combines rap with vocals, both male and female. Unfortunately I could not find a translation, however from the English lyrics it seems to be a criticism of a society or something similar as the chorus includes "cause my people ain't living right" and according to the group's wikipedia page, they have promoted political and social activism, including voting. The song includes a sort of call and response as the female vocals often repeats the male's parts or harmonizes with him at various part of the songs. The song features a strong beat and rhythm. The Senegalese percussion instruments helps establish the beat. The song uses English and at least one other language. The song comments on the news reporting about "news and misery" and the artists wondering why the world is like this.  The chorus is catchy, but doesn't come off as too repetitive. With the layered vocals, it gets the words stuck in your head, especially since it is in English and I can understand it.

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I chose this song because of how happy it sounded! This song has a rather upbeat tempo and sounds like a celebratory song that one would hear at a laid back party or a gathering of some sort. It reminds me of hanging out with my friends on the weekends (pre-COVID, of course) and just relaxing and being really at peace with the world and happy. It starts out really slow, with just a few voices singing together and creating the entire melody amongst themselves. It's a homophonic arrangement, with each of the voices embellishing the single melody and carrying it along. It picks up really quickly, after a big group singing harmony kind of part. The song then proceeds to evolve into a heterophonic arrangement with a somewhat muted triple meter and a lot of accompaniment from a bunch of instruments. The timbre is mellow, bright, and warm. It sounds like a summer pool party, to me. It's got a nice mix of traditional melody and instrumentation with just a pinch of (1983 era) modern pop. Also, some of the instruments that I can pick out with my inexperienced ear are chordophones (some sort of strings, maybe a guitar), membranophones (multiple drums), and idiophones (sounds like glasses being tapped). The tune of this song is repetitive and catchy, with a little three note phrase being repeated throughout. Can't get this song out of my head and haven't stopped listening to it yet :)

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I found this band through a news clip that described them as an experimental South African band from Soweto whose mission is to use music as spiritual healing. The main vocalist said in the interview that she thinks music can be a way of healing from the pain that everyone feels all the time. I like the vibe of the artists, and I believe that they sincerely believe their message. The video I have linked is to a live performance of one of their songs. What is most enjoyable to me is that they have so seamlessly mixed pop-music sounds and instruments with traditional South African body paint and language. The sound of the song is a delicious mix of traditional and modern. Sun Xa characterizes their music as ancestral world music, and their connection to their ancestral heritage is what makes their music spiritually healing. I think that this band's image is incredibly important as native South African's have been forced to abandon their culture by white colonizers. The culture and language that was forbidden by the colonizers is unapologetically present in this performance, and shown to be beautiful and spiritual.

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The Sun Xa Experiment "Bayede" at Endless Daze 2019

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I found this song on Spotify and the simple beat made me feel as through I have heard it before. Musically, it seems like it have a very standard beat and a bum-ta-ta....ta beat to it behind the lyrics. When you read the lyrics it seems as though it's the artist telling a guy that he needs to get his own issues together before she goes off and gets somebody else. Basically, the singer doesn't want to feel like she has to fight with the guy for the attention she deserves and feels like she shouldn't 't waste her time because someone out there is willing to give it to her. I think the song itself is very lighthearted and gives a calm melodic tone to what I'd imaging "pop" is. There was lots of autotune to the voice but it fit. Lyrically they repeated multiple times throughout the song and it really gives a good overall beat to what the song is created as. There was a same rhythm throughout and it made it musically simple and easy to follow.

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TaJ Mahal & Toumani Diabaté "Créole Belle"

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TaJ Mahal & Toumani Diabaté "Créole Belle"

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This song is played backstage at a concert in France. I personally liked this song as Taj Mahal is similar to artists that I listen to now so this song was very fun to hear. The two play this song in duple meter with a steady beat. We hear faintly in the background a slight foot tapping to keep the beat. The piece is light-hearted with only a few words and is not very dynamic. It stays a kind of quiet loudness. It feels like this is a hang-out more than it is a performance. There is some repeated melody and phrases in this piece and in some parts the guitar that Taj is playing and the Kora that Toumani is playing harmonize and play this same tune. Besides this, the guitar plays a more steady rhythm and chords with the Kora plays embellishes notes with fast picking and flourishes. We hear that Toumani often plays on the off-notes in the song. It sounds as if he is improvising the notes that he is playing since he doesn’t play a steady rhythm like Taj. This piece I find really interesting since it combines two cultures of African music together in one song, I wish that more mainstream music would combine historical instruments and patterns into their music like this one.

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TaJ Mahal & Toumani Diabaté "Créole Belle"

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I found the song Real Life by Burna Boy while I was looking through popular afro- pop music. This is one of the first ones that I came across and I really liked it. This song features Stormzy which is a very popular British rapper and is a part of his fifth album which he recently released in 2020. These two artists worked together on this song to bridge the gap between Nigeria and its diaspora. The music video is very powerful and shows the struggle of the disadvantaged black youth in the United Kingdom. In parts of the song, I can hear polyrhythm which is a popular aspect of Afropop. The song has a strong beat throughout and is really catchy. It has a steady tempo throughout and is a triple meter. The recording quality is studio album because you can clearly hear the singer and background music.

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Burna Boy - Real Life feat. Stormzy [Official Audio]

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I chose this song because of its strong meaning and message of fighting for the rights of marginalized people. Musically, the song has a repeating chorus and verses that are between sung and spoken, more in the style of a musical poem. The song starts with a sample from Fela Kuti, who is remembered as a pioneer of the Afrobeat style as well as an outspoken political activist. The lyrics of the song describe the artist’s well-deserved anger at the colonialism, corruption, and oppression that has harmed him, his community, and other marginalized people. Burna Boy began writing the song in response to oil exploitation in his home state of Rivers, Nigeria, but references many other injustices that he sees in his country and continent. In the second verse, he talks about the education he received growing up in Nigeria, which came from a white, European perspective, glossing over many of the horrors of colonialism and the struggles of Africans while under European rule, whose consequences continue to this day. Burna Boy describes how he was taught that Scottish explorer Mungo Park “discovered” the river Niger in the 18th century, which in reality was already very much inhabited, and had been for thousands of years. Teaching African history through a Eurocentric lens means that, as well as showing a warped perspective, it ignores African history before European colonization. African history does not start with colonialism, and to ignore history before European rule gives the false impression that civilization and advanced society did not exist before then. This feeds into the justification of imperialism as a means of bringing civilization to an otherwise uncivilized people, built upon the racist idea that white, European societies are the most “advanced”. Burna Boy’s overall message is that colonization has created the need for revolutionaries and radical activists, who are seen as the “monsters”. In reality, they are fighting for freedom after centuries of oppression and mistreatment at the hands of colonialism, imperialism, and fascism.

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Burna Boy - Monsters You Made [Official Music Video]

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I chose the song Restless by Nneka. I was drawn to Nneka after learning about her and her influences to create music, as well as her wonderful voice. This song is tense and sad, with a weak starting beat that gets stronger throughout the piece. It has a fairly steady tempo, and a duple meter. The rhythm is regular and very steady. Instruments I heard are the guitar, drums and piano, which hold the harmony, while her voice is the melody. The beginning is more of a homophony with the guitar. This song is sad, and most likely a song about loss in a way.

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I chose the song Come On Home by the Lijadu Sisters. I chose this song because of the different sounds and tones that mix together so well throughout the song. This song is the perfect example of mixed afro-pop beats with samples of jazz and classic European pop. The song starts out with techno sounding drums and rattles and then the piano joins in to create a more jazz feel. It has a happy tone and when the Nigerian sisters come in to sing it creates an even more pop vibe. They sing synchronized throughout the whole song which creates a more full sound effect. I did not understand the lyrics of this song but I still enjoyed the happy feel-good vibe of it. There are occasional instrumental interludes before the sisters come back in to sing a repetitive chorus. The song ends with the sisters singing synchronously and the instruments fading out with their voices. Overall, I enjoyed this song and the chill but upbeat vibe to it!

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This song has a lot of characteristics and many elements that made it stand out from other afro-pop music. In the singers’ voice, you are able to hear some of the same vocal qualities that Bob Marly used and you see the influence he had on her own style, you are able to see some other techniques that are used in pop music today. In the recording, you can tell they did some sort of alterations to the opening vocals, the voice of the singer sounds larger than life and is very powerful and soulful. Some of the instruments that you are able to hear are aerophones such as trumpets, membranophone such as drums, and chordophones such as an electric guitar and a piano. The tempo of the song is fast and has a very upbeat melody. This song has many qualities that are present in Pop-Afro music such as the strong beat. There is a lot of biblical interpretation that can be done from the lyrics that are also reinforced when you watch the music video as the lyrics refer to “you are my home my beginning my middle my end it” can be implied that she is referring to god. This artist has a lot of passion behind her work and you are able to feel that passion as you listen to the music. This type of music was unknow to me until we discussed it in class, this is something that i would see myself listening to quite often and will added it to one of my playlist as I quite enjoyed it.

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Sjava & Dj Maphorisa - Ngempela Ft Howard

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Sjava & Dj Maphorisa - Ngempela Ft Howard

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I chose “Ngempela” by Sjava because this is the type of music I love listening to, and it represents the new Afro-pop songs. They sang this song in the Zulu language which is a language spoken in Southern Africa. I didn’t understand a word in this song, yet I can feel the emotion and give me such a good vibe and make me want to dance. Ngempela means for real; he is saying “your ex-boyfriend has bad luck, how could he let you go, what was that he drank?” when I understand it, I loved it more. This song is polyrhythmic, and I can hear mainly the chordophone instruments which the membranophone instruments. Also, in a part of the song you can hear the call and response. This song has a relaxed beat and it's steady and smooth for most of the song.

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Sjava & Dj Maphorisa - Ngempela Ft Howard

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Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain : Ladysmith Black Mambazo

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Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain : Ladysmith Black Mambazo

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I chose this song because there is so much to hear even though the group performs as an acapella. In my African religions course we learned about how rain is important in a lot of different African Traditional Religions because it brings fertility and life, or destroys heat. When they sing "beautiful rain, come to me beautiful rain" they sound passionate and it shows how the rain is bringing good things. They were performing in a call and response where the lead singer would say something, and the other singers would sing back to him. It sounds like there are one or two really deep voices and the others are gradually getting higher. I didn't notice the range of voices at the beginning because they mesh really well. I also saw that the singers were moving their arms at around the two minute mark, and the singing was coinciding with the movements. I would say this song has an overall relaxed tempo and a regular rhythm. If I had to guess, this song would be heterophony since the main singer and the rest of the group are singing at different times but are singing similar melodies.

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain (Live on KEXP)

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"Ndodemnyama (Beware, Verwoerd!)" by Miriam Makeba

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"Ndodemnyama (Beware, Verwoerd!)" by Miriam Makeba

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The song that I chose was "Ndodemnyama (Beware, Verwoerd!)" by Miriam Makeba. I chose this song due to this song's historical and political significance. Written by Vuyisile Mini in the 1950s, this was the last song ever sung by Mini and his fellow African National Congress members, Khayinga and Mkaba, before their execution in 1964. This song served as the final warning to Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of the Apartheid, that the days of the Apartheid and his cruel rule were numbered. This song was taken and revamped by Miriam Makeba, a political and anti-apartheid activist, in the 1960s and was further utilized and gained popularity due to Makeba's amazing musical ability. This song contains several elements truly characteristic of African music, with having both call and response as well as being polyrhythmic. The song also contains several different instruments, such as chordophones and membranophones. All together, this song has a medium tempo with a duple meter that, combined with the upbeat sound and striking lyrics, becomes the perfect song to represent African resistance. 

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Miriam Makeba   NdodemnyamaBeware, Verwoerd!

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Ma Lo - Tiwa Savage Ft. Wizkid & Spellz  

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Ma Lo - Tiwa Savage Ft. Wizkid & Spellz  

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I chose this song because it was fun, polyrhythmic and upbeat. The lyrics are in English and Nigerian. It's a modern love song. This Afro-pop song combines many musical styles in my opinion, on top of synthesized sounds. This would be an ethnic feedback example, taking bits of music from other places and tracing it back to its African roots. The percussion elements, and aerophones, as well as some call and response elements between the male and female vocalists. I like the relaxed vibe of the vocals, almost a samba feel. I would say this is a triple meter, and is light and airy.

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Tiwa Savage Ft.  Wizkid & Spellz  - Ma Lo ( Official Music Video )

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Ade - Hugh Masekela + the Union of South Africa

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Ade - Hugh Masekela + the Union of South Africa

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I chose this song because I’ve listened to Hugh Masekela for a few years, since he was sampled by one of my favorite artists, and after watching Amandla, realized the impact he had not only on music in South Africa and all over the world, but also politically. This album came out and was performed live right around the time he and countless others would find themselves exiled from South Africa for 10+ years. The song starts out with a steady but fast tempo and steady, rhythmic percussion, then some horns come in and possibly a guitar, and then a singular voice starts occasionally joined and left by one other voice, with a homophonic texture, combined with the instruments. There is also a keyboard/piano heard midway through, more percussion and more dynamic vocals. I believe Hugh Masekela is doing the trumpet solo at the end and finishes off the song with a really bright, jazzy, brassy timbre.

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Hugh Masekela & The Union of South Africa - Ade

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This song is from Fela Kuti, one of the artists mentioned in class, an extremely influential Nigerian musician and political radical who is credited as creating Afro-beat. I chose this song because it is one of the top most played songs on his Spotify account. He is known to combine different musical styles into his pieces, including jazz, funk, African pop genres, and traditional Nigerian music, all of which are clearly evident in this 10-minute song. The entire first half of it consists only of a brassy, jazzy instrumental with supporting vocals and sparse guitar in the background, all to an African-style percussion beat. Its lyrics, which only start in the second half of the song, is a mix of the Yoruba language and pidgin English from West Africa, and speak of the metaphorical and literal power of water. This song exhibits a moderate duple meter throughout, call-and-response with female African vocalists, and an upbeat, lively sound with a dense texture when brass and vocals come together.

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Sabu Yerkoy - Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate

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Sabu Yerkoy - Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate

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I chose this song because I really wanted to hear the kora played by Tourmani. The song is a praise to God that Mali is independent. Both Ali and Toumani were famous famous Malian musicians who notably mixed their music with North American blues. The song consists of three instruments: a kora, guitar, and cello. The kora and guitar trade off as the centers of the piece with the cello acting mostly as a bass part. The song is polyrhythmic with a fairly slow tempo. The song progresses slowly but in each measure, there is a lot of notes being played. The strings are played lightly leaving a lot of space underneath the song. When they sing, its very smooth with only the occasional vibrato.

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Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate - Sabu Yerkoy

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I picked “The Uncomfortable Truth” because I was immediately drawn to Nneka’s voice and artistic style from both the class playlist and the short segment of “Heartbeat” we listened to in class. What truly made this song stand out to me were the lyrics, potent and full of modern activist messages. Although Nneka is a Nigerian-German artist who also sings in Igbo, this song is in English and her criticism of the (Nigerian?) government is blatantly obvious, at one point singing “You talk ‘bout peace/Put it in your mouth/The same mouth you use to declare your bombs/Your system is a joke”. The song has a relaxed tempo with a strong underlying pulse accentuated by hand clapping (idiophone, possibly influenced by traditional use of claves in African music) and a bass beat; there may be swung rhythm  (representative of blues/jazz influence) but I’m not positive on this. The timbre is rich and strong. Nneka’s voice is the focal point of this heterophonic piece, although there is some vocal harmonizing and additional embellishment by a brass instrument (aerophone, possibly a saxophone?), demonstrating jazz or soul influence typical of Afrobeat and Nneka’s music. Evidence of influence by Afrobeat is also present in the song’s messaging of equality and justice for the African people. The music video is also particularly powerful and shows Nneka unplugging TVs that are broadcasting a speech by a military leader, possibly an additional way to criticize the current Nigerian government or in tribute to one of her influences, Fela Kuti, who spoke out against the Nigerian military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s.

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Nneka - The Uncomfortable Truth (US Videoclip)

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I analyzed “Umqombothi,” a polyrhythmic song by Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Yvonne was born in Soweto, South Africa. After doing some research about her,  I learned that she went to a Zulu school as a child but can also speak Swati, Sotho, Tsonga, and English. “Umqombothi,” for context, is a word from Xhosa and Zulu languages that describes a beer made from maize. Interestingly, this is the one of the few words in the song sung in Zulu; Yvonne Chaka Chaka sings almost all the lyrics english while male background singers cut in every few words with, “Umqombothi” or “Madlamini” which means everyone. This song has a steady yet complex rhythm throughout and combines elements of funk and African pop. I think this song promotes social change, although subtly: “I work hard every day / To make my beer (Umqombothi) / Wake up early every morning / To please my people with African beer (Umqombothi).” I think Yvonne is trying to reach English-speaking countries to describe how her people are just as hard working yet they do not have the same opportunities as many others to make it big. I cannot see the instruments in the music video but I hear very consistent percussion throughout which suggests the presence of a membranophone and I hear an electrophone like a keyboard perhaps. I would describe the melody as heterophonic because it is homophonic when Yvonne sings with the instruments in accompaniment, but with the male vocals added it becomes heterophonic. This song is upbeat and I would describe the timbre as bright.

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I chose Jeje  by Diamond Platnumz because it reminded me of  nuances in the songs we listened to in class today.  It seemed like a modern version of the mixes of everything we explored.  It played tribute to cha cha, congo dance, and the sounds produced by the claves. I  put emphasis of the repetitive “Jeje” lyric in the song, as I was listening  to it for the first time, as  it was similar to the “cha cha”  exclamation in the other songs. In addition,  the  beat pattern seems to mimic that  of claves. Although, here,  it sounds more textured, or possibly even electronic.  The final acknowledgement to the music of the republic of the Congo was apparent in the music video in the dances that the women performed. The rhythmic hip movements seemed to be a revamped version of the example of Congo dance we  learned about.  This connection seems to perpetuate the feedback loop as it creates relatable content through modernization, while also staying true to essential characteristic elements of the genre.

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Diamond Platnumz - Jeje (Official Music Video)