By: Mark Allan Karanja
Nishike. We have all seen it, heard of it or know of someone who has seen it or heard about it. If you haven’t watched it, I would advise you to do so, then the point I shall make shall be all the more clear to you. The new Sauti Sol video has triggered an avalanche of views spanning from harsh criticism to strong support. There has not been a topic that has galvanized Kenyans this much since the Hague trials. It has been curious to hear some of the views that Kenyans have on this dynamic group of multi-talented musicians thanks to their new video.
Sauti Sol have been blowing up the air waves for about five years now, with their amazing afro fusion music that seemed to talk about real Kenyan issues, Kenyan situations, Kenyan problems and even Kenyan love affairs. Coming home, a moving song – that, for a long time, had been on everyone’s lips - says it all. These guys give their all when it comes to their music. It is a spiritual thing, I would be so bold as to say. But it seems “Nishike”, their latest (delectable) offering, has ruffled a few feathers. And it all has to do with the video.
Let us not beat about the bush, it is a sexy video. Some might call it racy but many think of it as smut. But when compared to what Kenyans are exposed to, Jamaican dancehall music that have ladies putting their best… everything forward, dancing in ways that would make you rethink the legitimacy of the laws of physics, with lyrics that have sex conveniently slotted after every two words, then I surmise that Nishike is very far up from the pits into which Kenyans would love to drag it down into.
Compared to what the quartet has done in the previous and I might add, recent past, a bit of shock is understandable. They are the Kenyan version of the Backstreet boys, with a feel good vibe about them and lyrics that make you feel warm inside. Many who have seen the new video claim that that is not the Sauti Sol they know, or have grown to love. What will happen to all the impressionable young teens cutting their teeth on their music, they ask. I say to them, it is still the Sauti Sol you have grown to love, but rather than the back street boys, they have transformed from Boys to Men.
But speaking of Kenyan feelings and emotions, desire falls right up there with the best of them. What is so wrong about having a Kenyan way to say “hold me”, “devour me” even? What these musical geniuses have done is found a Kenyan solution to a Kenyan problem. The sheer lack of sensuality in alleged love songs done by Kenyans is very evident. Case and point, “fundamentals” by Ken Wa Maria. Laugh if you will, but underneath what seems to be a comical little jingle, is a man bowing to his baser instincts and claiming his woman as his own. But therein lies the problem. When you call a beautiful woman, “dhings”, I don’t think you will get very far in the romance front.
Aside from the amazingly sculpted bodies the men flaunt on screen, and an incredible wardrobe (well, the clothed bits of flesh) and the seductive dancing coupled with delicious lyrics, the quality of the video in itself speaks volumes of the journey these young men have taken and are still on. They have cemented themselves as a music powerhouse, literally going places thanks to their art that is well done. Their latest offering is nothing less than a bold step in the right direction. An unexpected but refreshing evolution towards where Kenyan music could be. And a challenge to Kenyans to stop acting the part of the prude and possibly allow themselves to enjoy life and romance as just that, fluid sensuality.