If you have been around long enough you know that after Nerea, I do not listen to Sauti Sol. I didn’t expect to have such a visceral reaction to that song but I did and now I could be least bothered by them and their music. And of course I cannot escape their music because in a country that believes in tokenism, they are the ONE current group that has succeeded internationally. So therefore I have been aware of the rife misogyny and sexism that their music has continued to be (ahem! Suzanna).
And I guess it was a pipe dream to expect that Bensoul wouldn’t follow that train – he does write some of their music after all. And to be honest, I like the kid. He exudes an authenticity that I find lacking in the scene. But yo! Nairobi is not it. That song is ……. not good. And you know the way sometimes you can excuse a lyrically mediocre song because the beat is good – this one the beat is quite basic so it even adds insult to injury. And then Mejja, who mostly does well in features, was the weakest he has been in a minute. An all round disappointment.
I am often told that I pay too much attention to lyrics and as a result I am minimizing my enjoyment of music. Let me be clear and say that I am not going to ignore the lyrics just so I can enjoy a song but kudos to y’all who can do it.
And yeah there are many songs I don’t listen to because of lyrical content. I don’t think I am able to enjoy for enjoyments sake. That’s just me though.
To be clear, I believe that especially popular music can affect how people think about certain things. While I believe it is important for people to research etc before adopting opinions, there are those who form opinions from something they heard in a song by men they look up to and aspire to be like. And when it states something that is factually incorrect at the bare minimum, I must take pause.
And say for example that they don’t believe in the lyrics they are singing…… How? Fan service over truth? In this day and age? Please.
Ciiku 