Each song features a phenomenally voiced female artiste, one acclaimed by numerous musical intelligentsias, with Fancy Fingers ensuring that they retain their many eccentricities.
By Frank Njugi
Few happenings in the past few years, as far as the contemporary East African mass-pop cultural canon is concerned, have caused a stir as much as Sauti Sol, Kenya’s popular Afro-pop musical quartet, announcing in 2023 that they were taking a break to focus on their solo careers. For anyone who has their finger on the pulse of East African popular culture, what has become the standard is keeping up with what the individual members of the band – Bien, Chimano, Savara, and Fancy Fingers — are up to with their solo endeavours.
In November, 2023, Bien delighted, releasing his debut solo album Alusa Why Are You Topless? which further solidified his artistic imperium as an act that only few can top in terms of singing about love and romance. Chimano, who currently lives in Australia, seems to have embraced other passions, and is engaging in other pursuits in lieu of music. Savara is currently on a tour in the US, alongside other East African musical acts such as Nyashinski and Eddy Kenzo, as part of the Madaraka Festival US tour conceptualised by One Vibe Media.
Fancy Fingers, the last member of the quartet, is an artiste who many falsely asserted would struggle as a solo act due to his position as the group’s guitarist, usually in the background while the vocalists shone in the limelight. But he seems to have found a workaround for this, most recently, releasing an album, Love Language, which geniously ensembles 12 of the best female vocalists from across the continent; Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
In the intro song, “One in a Million”, Fancy Fingers links up with Karun. The song displays lush soundscapes that mirror that of alternative RnB, with Fancy Fingers delighting with a chorus full of emotional depth as his lyrics explore the theme of love and relationships — the subject matter around which the whole project oscillates. The Kenyan powerhouse vocalist, Karun, assumes impeccable control of the song’s melody with her dazzling voice, complementing well the stressed beat employed in the song.
The majority of the vocals in the album’s titular “Love Language”, which is also the second song, are provided by Dunnie — an Afro-fusion artiste and producer from Nigeria. Dunnie’s unhurried vocals make the track a lively, fresh, and colourful description of infallible love. In a slick manner, Fancy Fngers repeats Dunnie’s already established song’s chorus whose lyric, “Show me that your love is more than once”, becomes an earworm. There is a self-awareness the two artistes portray in the song that gives it some dynamism.
Lisa Oduor-Noah, a singer-songwriter, arranger, and producer hailing from Nairobi, and an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music, is featured in the third song “Nyathii Dala”. In “Nyathii Dala” you witness a compact-paced rhythmic beat with a bouncy finger-picking guitar from Fancy Fingers similar to that of Luo Benga — with the influence reiterated by both artistes delivering their lyrics in Dholuo.
The fourth song, “My Fave”, is a linkup between Fancy Fingers and Thamsanqa ‘Tamy’ Moyo — a Zimbabwean artiste and actress who became famous after releasing her 2016 song, “Ndibereke”. On “My Fave”, Fancy Fingers samples high-pitched piano melodies, barrelling baselines, and a slow tempo deep House rhythm and groove — which is mostly native to South African music. The most enticing aspect of the song is the echo-laden lyrical delivery, as Fancy Fingers and Tamy sing simultaneously.
Femi One is a female rapper who was recently recognised by the Recording Academy of the United States as one of the 10 female African rappers currently bringing a unique perspective to Hip-Hop. She is featured in “Mechi”, a raunchy track (the title, which is a Sheng slang for sex, gives an initial hint) that sees Femi One retain her aesthetic of always describing her sex escapades as swashbuckling. Sonically “Mechi” sounds like something not novel to Fancy Fingers, as its vibrant funky beat is more reminiscent of a Kapuka party song.
“Far Away”, the sixth song in Love Language, sees Ugandan singer and songwriter, Azawi, retain the heartfelt exploration of various relationship scenarios her songs usually exhibit as well. Azawi is popularly known for her unique blend of Afrobeats, which she delivers in a juxtaposition of Luganda with English, which she retains in this same song. In the song, it also appears the bass guitar is used as the most pronounced instrument, controlling the rhythm and tempo of the song.
Simmy or Simphiwe Majobe Nhlangulela, the South African singer-songwriter who gained prominence after releasing her debut studio album, Tugela Fairy, in 2018 and her follow-up sophomore album, Tugela Fairy (Made of Stars), to critical acclaim in 2020, is featured in the track “Show Me Love”. The song reflects Amapiano influences, with its fusion of deep House and Afrobeat elements. Fancy Fingers and Simmy bring out their lyrics as nudges — mostly to unnamed third-party paramours.
The fast-rising Addis Ababa-based Somali-Ethiopian songstress, Banana Overdose, known for her unique Amapiano track “Warya”, the songs “Fuck Boy Farax”, and “I Am Who I Am”, is featured in the song “Ego”. “Ego” is lofty, displaying heavy use of synthesisers and filtered drums. Banana Overdose delights by singing about her afflictions with explicit detail, multilingually delivering her lyrics.
Xenia Manasseh, who has for some time now been dubbed as the queen of East African contemporary RnB since she came to the limelight of mainstream Kenyan music in 2019, appears next in the song “ All Over Me”. The song displays a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement from both Xenia and Fancy Fingers, as the two sing sensual lyrics over a syncopated beat. This acts as a fine premise for the follow-up song, “Set Me Free” which features South African vocalist and songwriter, Raspy, who delivers her lyrics in a native language, giving the song an authenticity that reminds one of harmonic Mbaqanga music. Fancy Fingers plays with a wavy and bass-heavy beat, giving this track some uniqueness from the others in the project.
The penultimate track “Be My Lover” and the last song, “It’s You”, both have a downbeat emotional tone with sweet harmonies and catchy hooks, which ardently cap off the album. The featured artistes, Frya, a Zimbabwe singer and songwriter who is most famous for having her music used to soundtrack the popular South African series Blood and Water, and Njerae, a singer and songwriter from Nairobi. “Be My Lover” and “It’s You” both have lyrics which describe the multitudes of showing love and affection.
Fancy Fingers presents Love Language as an ode to African women and African female artistes. This is an album that showcases the vocal virtuosity of African female vocalists and dispels any notion that may exist that female music acts do not have the same dexterity as their male counterparts. Each song features a phenomenally voiced female artiste, one acclaimed by numerous musical intelligentsias, with Fancy Fingers ensuring that they retain their many eccentricities.
Lyricism – 1.5
Tracklisting – 1.2
Sound Engineering –1.5
Vocalisation – 1.7
Listening Experience – 1.5
Rating – 7.4/10
Frank Njugi is a Kenyan Writer, Culture journalist and Critic who has written on the Kenyan and East African culture scene for platforms such as Debunk Media, The Republic, Culture Africa, Sinema Focus, Wakilisha Africa, The Moveee, Africa in Dialogue, Afrocritik and many others. He tweets as @franknjugi.