Here is one simple FACT – VIKKI can SING her heart out. PERIOD.
I wanted to start this post with Bamboo’s sister can sing but I realized the fact that I associate her with Bamboo all the time is probably not a cool/good thing. She needs to stand on her own and on her own she will stand. Vikki is one talented beast. Truthfully without being all teary eyed and sentimental or brown nosing the chile – she is probably one of the best vocalist in the region HANDS down. Some people are more relevant than she is but the reality is if we put some of these chiles on a mic next to Vikki it would be a no brainer. The only other person who can probably go toe to toe with Vikki is Mercy Myra.
Now moving on swiftly…
It’s hard for me to post this song and not really talk about the production/producer. So here goes. There are two key types of key producers in Kenya and Tanzania as a collectively. There are producers who know how to use software very well and then there are producers who know how to write and produce music. I often find that the latter get less respect or recognition in this software infested industry.
Last week I was reading a comment Quincy Jones made about Kanye West. Jones said point blank that it was absurd to compare him with Kanye west. I mean Quincy has written and produced for some of the greatest artists in the world but more importantly for me was the fact that Quincy has/can write for Symphonies and Orchestras. Kanye is great in his own aspects but you cant really compare his technical know how or expertise to someone who writes or composes for talents such as Quincy. And maybe that whole article was taken out of context by the media and the journalist who wrote it but essentially the gist of the conversation was interesting to say the least.
I think when I saw or and heard this song in the making (it was a while back), I realised Bruce Odhiambo is the latter of the two producers. His old studio had so much space for choirs and other large groups of performers. I give credit where its due. It’s not about being able to pave the way for the new school producers or talents its just about being able to define the sound of Kenya and for a long time I think Bruce played a vital part of defining the sound of Kenya. Be it in TV Commercials (those Kazi – Kazi EABL Jingles) to random albums and songs that were all over Kenya. Today of course the likes of Clemo and Hiram have changed the game, and pop culture has deemed Bruce and his chronies slightly old school but I respect the craft and the live instrumentation.
This track was performed by Bamboo’s sister Vikki, arranged and produced by Bruce Odhiambo for Johari Cleff. He played all Bass, Guitars and Keys – which in itself is a testament of a rare trait of most new songs coming out of East Africa, which is instrumentation. I miss the greats like Master Jay and other great African producers who still play instruments. People like R-Kay still try to keep this alive in their music – I hope more music becomes and sounds better when performed live as opposed to when recorded. Because at the rate we are going we will lose all African elements in our software trade.
listen to Tell me here:
[audio:http://files.getmziki.com/Vicki-Tell_me.mp3]Download the track here:
