Posts Tagged ‘weird’

‘But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.’

T.S. Eliot – Journey of the Magi.

Nigerian author Chinua Achebe referenced this poem for his 1960 novel ‘No Longer At Ease’, which tells the tale of an African villager unable to adapt to the ways of the Western world. Incidentally, the prequel to that book is entitled ‘Things Fall Apart’, and is the inspiration for The Roots’ award-winning 1999 album of the same name.

Possibly seeking to create something as iconic as Things Fall Apart, Nigerian-German Nneka’s musical might comes from producer DJ Farhot who deserves credit for building the superb backing and beats that Nneka uses to didactically sermonise from.

Nneka Egbuna’s political view of the laws governing her world is deeply immature and serves only to sap any joy that could otherwise be acquired from this, her second record. That in itself is a deeply unfortunate fact as there is much to like here: the dub-reggae feel of the cheerily titled Death; the pop immediacy of Heartbeat; the descending, jazzy chord progression and crackly hip-hop beat on Mind vs Heart; the shimmering chorus hook on Walking, and so on.

Influenced by jazz, reggae and hip-hop, the album boils down to a diverse ‘soul’ record. Nneka’s voice is listenable and her rapping ability is above average. Comparable to Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Neneh Cherry, it is Nneka’s thoughts that are her own worst enemy.

Much of what is said here can be surmised by the uneducated, adolescent scream, “This sucks!” and there is never any inclination to believe that Nneka has lived any of the experience retold. Streets Lack Love is perhaps the most patronising example of this:

“This goes out to you, people of the streets, no it is not easy to survive in this world, where there is no love, where this no heart, things we said we are, things we can never be.”

Not only does this not make sense, but does Nneka sincerely believe that  ‘people in the street’ are picking up No Longer At Ease saying “Yeah, she represents me.” Maybe they’ll hear the song on the radio of the passing taxi carrying Nneka to her next venue where she will sit with her rider of Evian whilst those ‘people in the street’ bop to the fleeting memory of a snippet of the song written just for them, etched as it is on their consciousness with little more than chalk.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, she blames the suffering of the Nigerian people on Shell, Chevron, NNPC and wags a finger at the non-action of European and Nigerian Governments in such a lacklustre manner, anyone would think that she would be lucky to have got a GCSE in politics, never mind a degree in anthropology! While no-one can deny the global problems that desperately need addressing, the manner with which they are delivered on No Longer At Ease and the paranoid beliefs that drive Nneka are utterly naïve.

An artist speaks from their own truth – from experience. One of the inlay pictures to this album sees Nneka dressed in West African attire, carrying an acoustic guitar under her arm, walking on dusty earth and looking sorrowfully out into a concrete street. Behind her is a woman carrying a shopping bag in one hand and a large, plastic container of what one assumes to be water in the other. One look at Nneka’s feet and, wait, are they Nike trainers she’s wearing?

Hand me my K’naan albums.

Tags: 2009, africa, IGNORE, LP, music, review, weird