Artiste: Samini
Producer: DJ Frass
Author: Kwame Dadzie
Preamble: ‘My Own,’ the latest reggae song of Ghanaian dance hall kingpin, Samini, since its release has gained huge patronage among music lovers and a lot of people have expressed varied opinions on the entire composition.
Instrumentation: The beat is in 2/4 time signature with heavy bass line and spectacular programming. It is sung in Key F# Major. The groovy beat makes it very danceable. It is programmed on the Reggae Fest Riddim.
Message: Samini talks about love in ‘My Own.’ He describes the good qualities of his woman and praises her. He further states in the song that even when he had no money, his lover still accepted to be with him – a virtue that epitomises true love among most people in love relationships. Samini’s tactful use of literary devices in the song exudes his exceptional song writing qualities.
‘Bibini-Broni’ Symbolism: Even before I would listen to the song, I had heard people like Nana Kyir ask on Facebook why in 21st Century Samini would still describe a woman as ‘obibini broni’. ‘Obibini’ means ‘black-skinned’ person while ‘obroni’ is used for the ‘white-skinned’ race.
‘Bibini Broni’ therefore, is a Twi expression used to describe a black woman who looks like white woman [strange?]. This oxymoron makes the black race seem ‘unwhole,’ except if it is to describe a bleached black person who has part of their body as near-white and part as dark. It is generally believed that the ‘white’ skin colour is more beautiful than the dark.
The ‘superiority’ of the ‘white-skin’ is evidenced in how black people have been subservient to the white race for a long time. In fact, that expression has been considered as a result of inferiority complex on the part of the black race.
A lot of people have used that expression in their songs. Even veteran highlife artiste Amakye Dede has used ‘me broni’ several times in his songs. Is this confirmation of the African’s unwillingness to free himself off the fetters of neo-colonialism? Or perhaps this has a different music connotation unknown to my music-review abilities?
Vocal ability: Samini has a unique husky voice typical of most dance hall artistes. What makes Samini different from most dance all artistes, however, is that apart from doing the typical ragga he does, he is good at doing ‘real’ singing and he exhibited just that on ‘My Own.’ His harmonies are smoothly blended.
Can ‘My Own’ do some magic for Samini?
There is no gainsaying that Samini’s fortunes have dwindled in the music industry. This can partly be attributed his penchant for sub-standard songs for a while now; he has adopted a style of music which is unbecoming of the world-class artiste he’s been branded to be. ‘My Own’ really sounds ‘Saminiish.’ It has restored some hope in the hearts of his fans that nearly lost hope in his craft. Most people I have spoken to have said ‘My Own’ truly reflects the Samini they used to know.
Conclusion: If Samini should continue to release songs like this, he will still maintain a big spot in the Ghanaian music industry. I rate ‘My Own’ 79%.
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