Music Review: Utawala by Juliani

I absolutely had to share this video with you guys. Juliani is the absolute best lyricist I have ever had. EVER. This song is called Utawala and I love the video. It highlights the bad times in Kenya where corruption, hunger, mismanagement etc. have wrecked us, but it also shows people along our history who've stood up against it. I especially love the part where he shows how Wangari Mathai was attacked defending the forests and had her hair ripped out and later she was the first woman and first Kenyan to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. The message of the video is that we should stand up to corruption, from the huge aspects like protecting our wildlife from poachers to the little things like buying pirated movies. I'm not perfect and this definitely opened my eyes. Hope you like it. (And for my non-kiswahili speaking friends, I hope the images in the video speak to you, you never know God might reveal it to you)

CHORUS:Niko njaaa hata siezi karanga              

              hoehae shaghala bhaghala niko tayari kulipa gharama              

              sitasimamaa maovu yakitawala sitasimama maovu yakitawala              

              Ufisadi, ibinafsi ukabila              

              kuuza sura wataki kuuza sera              

              Undugu nikufaana               

              sitasimama maovu yakitawala siatasimama maovu yakitawala

Hard ku get wadhifa una deserve bila cash ama kashfa

hii society kenye wanaeza share ni nyungu ya busa ama kettle ya shisha

Mfuko unasikia echo

utajua thamani ya mali na size ya kifuli

hujaibiwa juu hauna ka kitu worth risking jail time, police bullets for

unaeza argue crime doesn't pay lakini huezi dismiss justice ina bei

mwizi ana fourty days, 365 days later anaendelea ku grow fatter

Do anything for power, ready to loose their head for presidency bora waione kwa currency

sababu gani siko affected na turbulance nikifly angani

nimezoea the same feeling matatu zikipitia pothole mtaani

CHORUS:

Ndio wa raise funds itabidi u raise hands

growing concerns

breakfast za croissants

hatutaki upunguze bei ya bidhaa

tunataka opportunities ndio tu afford hizo bidhaa

walisema kutembea kwingi ndio kuona mengi

nimeshinda nikitembea ma ofisi  nasijawai ona kazi

siezi cheza Golf venye tiger would

mambo si bara bara chin wu

Naomba journey mercies chakula ifike tumboni ikitoka kwa sahani

Policeman anapiga rungu mwalimu, daktari anamrushia teargas

na mtoto wake anarudishwa nyumbani hana school fees analipwa peanuts.

CHORUS:

Sewer za state house na latrine za ghetto ziupatana Nairobi river

No more nita live by hand to mouth

ushawai sikia maskini anaugua gout

Nikiwa na nguvu ya kung'oa reli definately kuinua kura si nzito ukiingiza kwa ballot box

chagua kiongozi wa kweli

Moha, John Allan Namu jicho pevu wakianika mkono refu inapick pocket wanyonge

Navaa mask ka goal keeper wa Hockey waezi ni kerubo

Kenya ni kama Boxing hakuna sub

work with what we have.

 CHORUS:

All owed and copyrighted to Juliani. Lyrics provided for educational purposes only.

Local Week: Ni Msoh by Kelele Takatifu feat. Holy Dave

The simplest translation of this song is "God Is Big"; ni msoh = He's Big

This video is so cool! Hope you enjoy it.

And that ladies and gentlemen is he end of Local Week. I sure enjoyed it and I'll be putting up any new videos I see and like, but next week, we're back to what I know best, rock and worship.

Local Week: Furifuri Dance by Jimmy Gait

I couldn't finish off local week without adding my favorite song of 2011. This is such a ridiculous song, ridiculous in a fun way. Furifuri dance, as in fully fully dance, another praise/celebration song by Jimmy Gait.

I love this original version, they made the mistake of doing a remix of it which was just horrible, like a clash betweeen spirituality, politics and kenyan personas. I love this original version though, totally fun and you'll like the dance too.

Local Week: Ole by Jimmy Gait, Holy Dave and Chuchu

Another fun video, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the videography of this song, everything just works. Jimmy Gait is a powerhouse of local talent and has done hit songs like Muhadhara and Furifuri dance. This is a celebration song that you're gonna have a hard time getting out of your head. Totally Africa's Song of The Year material!

Local Week: I'm Walking by Alemba and Exodus

Kenya's hypeman supreme Alemba and Uganda's Exodus hooked up and came up with this great song calle I'm walking. Plug-in: Can I just mention that Alemba used to be the hypeman at my Church's youth group and now he's making waves in the industry, (Holla!)

 

The choreography is excellent as in all Alemba's videos and am I a sell out for liking the planes and red cars in the background, the debate is that "it's mimicking western videos and un-african", I say forget all that, it's a cool video and I love it and you will too.

Local Week: Mbona by Daddy Owen feat. Denno

This week, I decided, I'd share with you some of Kenya's local videos. I was watching TV yesterday and realized I've been left behind of the times!

I'm not really into local music, I'm more of a rock girl with a side of contemporary worship, but I recognize talent and that's one thing that these guys have plenty of, so I hope you enjoy this music.

We're going to start with this song, because our church had these guys come over and sing it in our service yesterday. The song is called "Mbona" that is, "Why" by Top Artist Daddy Owen and Denno. This song got me thinking about how I treat people who seemingly are less advantaged than me, like homeless people, disabled people, even simply people who dress different than I do, yet we were all created by the same Father, all in His image.

As We Keep On Praising We Keep on Rising

O.K Prepare yourself for the most awesome music video in the world!




So watching that, picture me jumping up and down dancing to this song! It's an awesome praise song, I love how they merge the pop beat with the ragga vocals...I could go on and on, but really do I have to?? It's an awesome song. It's titled Holy Ghost Fire.

According to the guys, it's inspired by:

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Jude and to the ends of the earth."






What's more to say except,

"As we keep on praising, we keep on rising......."

Mad Love Lounge

Mad Love Lounge is a concert here in Nairobi that spotlights urban youth gifted in gospel hip-hop and spoken word.
Now I am definitely not a stranger to Mad Love. I've been going on and off since the days they were based at Kula Korna (restaurant, Hurlingham) I've enjoyed each and everyone....and they brought International Artist "Da' Truth" to Kenya....so yeah, in short, I'm a fan.

Today however was legendary. I don't know if it was because I was still on a worship high from Church or because I had amazing company...whatever it was, todays' perfomances were on top.
Highlights were of course BMF who also performed at Church and who I got to meet. Eko dy da also has a couple of new tracks out "na na na na.....ghetto...." Mr. T and Saint P were also great. Number 8 the poet also did justice to the Spoken Word part of the night.

I'll do detailed reviews over the next couple of days,
coz thas how we do... (say that in like a hip hop tone lol)
...here on The Sound : : going beyond the music and hype and finding the truth beneath the beats