AiW Guest: Ceri Whatley

AiW Note: This is the second in a series of four posts in which Ceri Whatley discusses Rwandan artist Eric 1Key’s album Entre 2, as well as presenting original translations of 1Key’s lyrics from Kinyarwanda and French to English. We are delighted to publish these posts and lyrics with the permission of Eric 1Key. 

Courtesy of Eric 1Key

Eric 1Key (real name Eric Ngangare) is one of Rwanda’s most exceptional creative talents. He is a multi-lingual hip-hop poet, spoken word artist, blogger, and advocate of Kigali’s blossoming live music scene. Born to a Rwandan mother and Congolese father, 1Key has lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda – where he lives today. Between November 2014 and February 2015 – and while living in Kampala, Uganda – 1Key created his debut album Entre 2 (“Between Two”).

Entre 2 – which boasts eleven carefully constructed tracks – is reflective of complex contradictions and dichotomies in 1Key’s own life. Throughout the album, we hear multiple voices singing and rapping in Kinyarwanda, French and English – as well as in Kiswahili and Lingala – reflecting the new Kigali today. Indeed, Rwanda’s capital city is home to vast numbers of Rwandan returnees, who grew up in neighbouring countries – as well as in Europe and North America – and then returned to Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide, speaking a variety of different languages.

As a PhD researcher interested in musical connections between Kigali and Kampala, I have enjoyed the privilege of getting to know Eric. Through his album, 1Key took me on a journey through a world of traditional Rwandese melodies, soulful folk, celebratory rock, bouncy reggae beats, and conscious hip-hop poetry. He introduced me to Rwandan and Ugandan music producers and artists – with whom he collaborated with on the album – who live in Rwanda, Uganda, France, Sweden, the UK and Canada. But most importantly, 1Key helped me to translate and “decode” his words. His poetic, playful, multi-layered, seductive, defiant, honest words.

I hope that this series of song reviews – complete with lyric translations and audio links – enhances your understanding of 1Key’s outstanding album, and that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Track 4: Virtually Yours ft. Ricky Password & Mhinganzima

While A L’Africaine (Iwacu) expresses 1Key’s romantic nostalgia for a time before apps and gadgets, the album’s following track throws us forwards into a celebration of online space and its capacity for enabling love and musical collaboration. Virtually Yours narrates an online love story, with the feel-good mood being inspired by Ray Charles’s influential song What’d I Say (1959). Recorded at audio-producer Barick’s home-studio in Kigali, Virtually Yours is alive and upbeat. The free-feeling quality is achieved by the fast tempo, the strong backbeat of the drum kit, and the attack of the electric piano rhythms. We hear multiple voices singing in Kinyarwanda, French and English, reflecting the new Kigali today, where entwined linguistic and cultural influences feed into an increasingly diverse and interesting creative arts scene.

The Kigali that I am referring to is not constrained by physical boundaries, with digital media platforms connecting Rwandans and non-Rwandans from all over the world. Indeed, Virtually Yours is the first of four collabos on the album and features Mhinganzima, a female singer and member of the Rwandan diaspora. When living in Sweden, Mhinganzima became 1Key’s friend on Twitter and the two of them developed a deep connection. 1Key dedicates Virtually Yours to Mhinganzima and praises her when he says: “I love to read her prose for hours/Her voice sounds like a catchy tune.” (Translated from French to English) In the second verse, we are treated to Mhinganzima’s velvety voice and beautifully thoughtful words. She misses Rwanda, but feels a closeness to 1Key through “[Their] words which devour miles.” (Translated from French to English)

Kigali, Rwanda. 2016. Natacha performing at Spoken Word Rwanda. [Courtesy of Spoken Word Rwanda]

 

“You tweet like a little sweet birdie

Your face, book it for my kisses baby

You’re my sound cloud, your voice takes me higher

I lose instant–grams when you go M.I.A

WhatsApp with you, girl, can’t you see?

I’m so in love with you…”

[Emphasis by Ceri Whatley]

Moreover, the track opens to that familiar start-up sound of Microsoft Windows XP (2001), followed by a robotic female voice saying: “Press 1Key. Enter Password” and the rat-a-tat-tat of typing.

As we progress through 1Key’s album, we discover links between the tracks. In Virtually Yours, Ricky Password says: “Come to me Bwiza from the song before”, and later 1Key says: “Come to me and fall on the chest of a strong man,” (translated from Kinyarwanda to English), which is also a reference to A L’Africaine (Iwacu). Amongst the many strands of this multi-layered album – which is reflective of 1Key’s thoughts and lived experiences – is the rootedness in Rwandan idioms. 1Key says: “It’s not just… /…the look of a cow”, referring to the Rwandan saying that when a woman is beautiful she has the look of a cow, especially when she has big eyes. (Translated from French to English) Finally, the last two lines of the song, which translate as “Let me praise you/And play the Inanga for you”, which also link us back to 1Key’s opening track Apprenti_Sage.

Virtually Yours lyrics

Eric 1Key (real name Eric Ngangare) is a multi-lingual hip-hop poet, spoken word artist, blogger, and advocate of Kigali’s blossoming live music scene. His album – along with his other poetry and music – is available on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/eric1key – and for sale on digital stores iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. Eric 1key is very active on social media where you can find him discussing and debating all kinds of things. For updates and live info, follow Eric1key on Twitter: @eric1key, Facebook: Facebook/eric1key, or email for bookings at ericonekey@gmail.com. Additional song reviews by Ceri Whatley can be found on Eric 1Key’s Blog: https://eric1key.com/

Ceri Whatley is a PhD candidate in African Studies and Anthropology at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research explores “musical traffic” – both physical and digital – between Kigali-Rwanda and Kampala-Uganda, with a particular interest in the construction of new Rwandan identities, post-1994 genocide. While conducting over 12 months of ethnographic research in Rwanda and Uganda, Ceri undertook Kinyarwanda language training. She is currently analysing the rich corpus of data collected during fieldwork, and looks forward to completing her thesis. Ceri is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC-M3C) and can be contacted on cnw604@bham.ac.uk.

Categories: Research, Studies, Teaching, Reviews & Spotlights on...

Tags: Ceri Whatley, Entre 2, Eric 1Key, French, Hip-hop, Kigali, Kinyarwanda, Lyrics, Mhinganzima, Natacha, Poetry, Ray Charles, Rebecca Jones, Ricky Password, Rwanda, Social Media, spoken word, spoken word poetry, translation, Virtually Yours