[Goanet] KiSwahili Songs

[Linken Fernandes]

By a strange coincidence, I've been listening to Mama yake na Sophia
(mashup), as they say, on loop, having lit upon it accidentally in my
rambles through Youtube and opening it on a whim.(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfN8g8OIQbw). Now I don't seem to get
enough of it, though not knowing the first thing what it is about. There's
no explanation online, and the lyrics on Google Translate aren't very
illuminating. Checking about it with an Africander from Kenya, I learn that
"it was quite popular when we were in school (late sixties, perhaps) and we
used to sing it a lot". So, some ex-Kenyaite here might want to weigh in,
and, as they say, help a bro out, what?
Another pleasant chance discovery, just yesterday, has been Oh So Many
Years by the incomparable Everly Brothers. This is actually a cover of a
Bailes Brothers original, but I prefer the Everly Brothers take. You might
like it too in this oh too rainy weather.

[Goanet] KiSwahili Songs

[Mel de Quadros]

How Kiswahili songs gave voice to the independence movement — and romance

UNESCO
/ Dominique Roger

*Millions of speakers from across East, Central, and southern Africa, the
Middle East, and the diaspora marked World Kiswahili Language Day* on
Friday (July 7) following a 2021 declaration by UNESCO. Kiswahili connects
over 200 million people who speak the Bantu language across borders and
advancing their political and economic interests.

In the 1960s, when most East African countries were at the apotheosis of
their struggle for independence or newly independent, Kiswahili songs
played a significant role in marshaling the people and spreading optimism
to people in the new postcolonial states. In Kenya, Daudi Kabaka — whose
song’s title “Harambee Harambee ,” was
arguably borrowed from the slogan popularized by the first president Jomo
Kenyatta — served as a clarion call for all Kenyans to build the nation.
His other song, “African Twist,” was a
sensation with young Kenyans in the newly independent country but it
transcended borders.

And in the same Equator Sound studio where Kabaka recorded his songs in
Nairobi, his contemporary Fadhili William was the first to record what
would become arguably the most popular Kiswahili love song
 of all time: “Malaika,” which means “angel”.
It was soon the most instantly recognizable African song especially after
it was made globally famous by the late South African singer Miriam Makeba
(pictured).

Over the decades, Kiswahili songs have become a unifying factor across the
region, with YouTube viewing becoming the new yardstick. For example,
contemporary Tanzanian artist Diamond Platinumz became the first
sub-Saharan African singer to clock two billion views on a YouTube channel
last year. Singing mainly in Kiswahili, some of his songs, “Yatapita
” and “Mtasubiri
,” became instant hits in East Africa and
beyond, garnering millions of views. His song “Salome
”, which was released six years ago and
featured
another
East African star, Rayvanny, added to his many feathers in his musical hat
after a resounding success across the East African music market and beyond.

*— Muchira Gachenge  in
Nairobi*