Gold is Good

After finding Hardstone's Uhiki single yesternight, I shut my laptop down with tabs that I would look at in the morning. Repeating the song over 15 times on Listen on Repeat, I dosed off hoping to find music of such a time-based genre this morning. The following are just a few of the songs that I have listened to today after hearing them being played growing up:

Hardstone - Msichana Mwafrika

1997 was the year of the Hardstone. Not only did his single Uhíki hit the Nairobi airwaves, but he also released his debut album Nuting But Da Stone, produced by Ted Josiah, of the then Sync Sounds Productions. The composition of the acoustics and the vocal processing at the beginning of Msichana Mwafrika is simply undemanding and well-executed.

Hardstone employs English, Swahili and Gikuyu in his music, and the rendering language integration was way ahead of his time. I say this from the perspective that language integration in Kenyan, and African music has always had an undiscussed disposition. [But] Hardstone was spoilt for choice. He found a comfortable hotspot that buffered Urban Ragga, Old School Hip-Hop and amazing acoustic samples. Hardstone had the answer' and he left to the United States with it. He left Kenya to the USA and created Stone Island Entertainment in 2010, an Independent Record Label.

Manjeru - Lalalalala

The poignancy and emotion in Lalalalala is so calming, that the single becomes the audio translation of a calming breeze. Manjeru is a man who has his vocal strings tuned to the task. The Swahili lyrics explore around the joys of making hopeful vows between people who love each other. The correctness of the language complements the sombre mood of the song. The supple acoustics give the lyrics am undying and dreamy consistency. The familiar young faces of the cast

Darlin P - 4 in 1

I remember being in grade 4 and this song playing on syndicated radio, as we did laundry with my elder sister and my auntie. It was one of those songs that most listeners did not know the meaning to, but we always got down to. It was our version of Saturday Night Live parody music.

"Ukitaka soma lebo, 

soma soma lebo na

 --vioja live group-- 

analeta nyokonyoko..."  

"...Kijana wewe nani, 

na unataka nini, 

we beshte we ni nani 

unakaa ka jambazi". 

There are several lyrics from 4 in 1 that do not have a direct translation to English, as they are based on Kenyan sub-cultural colloquial language. Most of the parts in the song seem like a dialogue between the artist and different people. Darling P introduced a whimsical parody style of Kenyan music, but sadly never consistently created more of such musical content. There was an existing audience for this style of music, but they never lingered as the demand-supply ratio was greatly uneven. On a side-note, does anyone notice how the language integration in this music was such a fun listen?

Sema - Leo

Sema was a three-singer band that was formed during the CocaCola Popstars in 2004. Sanaipei Tande, Pam Waithaka and Kevin Waweru were the band starring vocalists. There was an exciting air of new Kenyan music when they released their single Leta Wimbo. They did release their debut album, Mwewe, which had another single which was given fair airplay, Sakalakata. The group split up in 2005 due to some in-band scuffles.

Here are some extras from today's Single's Pick: