Lessons from Kuye, a Yoruba novel by J.F. Odunjo | Featured Artiste: Faith Yebo

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Sometime last week, I suddenly remembered this book we had to read in JSS something (1 or 2). It was for our Yoruba class (No, don't tune out yet;  Just wait) and it was called KUYE by J. F. Odunjo (the same man who wrote Alawiye). For all you academic types, the full name of the book is Kuye: Itan omo odi ti eda ro pin / lati owo.

Apart from the intriguing story line (which I cannot remember clearly), I learnt 2 things from that book:

1.  Yoruba Curse Words:   Yes, you read that correctly.  I learnt how to curse in Yoruba.  Not that I didn't know some curse words already (Remember I mentioned that people learn the bad things first when learning a language).  However, the curse words in Kuye were very ... DEEP! They were some real 'ijinle' curse words.  I decided against sharing the specific words because I do NOT recommend repeating them.



Ask me the names of the other characters in Kuye and you'll hear "Emm, errrr ..." *covers face*

2.  Snails eat paper:  This one I learnt the hard way.  Here's the story:  I had caught some small, garden snails (not those big juicy ones;  You go waka reach market to "source" those ones).  I don't know if these garden snails are edible (Have you tried eating them before? *casts a suspicious glance at whoever is reading this*) It just didn't cross my mind back then.  I put the snails in a bowl/cup along with some leaves (you know they gotta get their veggies).  But, I also used my Kuye book, front cover facing up, to cover the top of the cup/bowl to keep them from escaping.  And then, I did the unthinkable: I left them unattended *gasp of horror*

Alas! I came back to find that the snails haff chop and clean mouth with my book.  They decided it was stick meat.  Or maybe they wanted to learn Yoruba.  I strongly suspect that they desperately wanted to learn how to put the amin correctly on each word (Do, Re, Mi) *straight face* Seriously, they ate some parts of the back cover as they tried to escape and left a visible hole there.  I suppose they could have eaten their way into the Preface or Table of Contents if I hadn't arrived on time.  I am pretty sure they ate the ISBN though.  If there was a bar code, they would have eaten that too.  *irritated hiss*

Where is the book today?  Clueless. I probably gave it out.  So, if you ever come across a used Kuye book with a strange looking hole on the back cover, complete with bite marks, it probably belonged to Relentless, once upon a time.

Featured Artiste: Faith Yebo

You want to hear a not-so-funny story? I had seen Faith Yebo's ReverbNation profile a little over a year ago and hadn't thought much about it.  Then, I went back to visit again around the same time that I reviewed Solomon Lange's "Na gode."

Faith Yebo / ReverbNation
This time, she had changed her profile picture and I now recognized her.  She was one of the ladies who made cameo appearances in his Na gode video.  Both the 1st video and the 2nd video.  Small world, ba?  Would you believe that the new song she put up is actually a collabo between them?  That's the one I am reviewing today, and it's called "Daukaka."  I still don't know what Daukaka means, but I can certainly share it with you:

ComScore

THE REVIEW

Likes:  One of the most obvious aspects of this song is the instrumentation: it actually matches the lyrics.   I am not just referring to the glaringly obvious flute (or similar woodwind instrument) that you hear in the intro.  Nor am I just referring to the fact that this is a song written in Hausa (this is Hausa,right?)  The light, airy feel of this song goes hand in hand with, and is in fact accentuated by the instruments (includes percussion, of course).  Add to that Faith Yebo's vocals and you have a song that says "Worship" without ever using that particular word.  I like the fact that the song starts with Faith's soft voice singing in Hausa and her presence is felt throughout the song.

Another sweet aspect of this song is the division of labor that is incorporated into the song structure.  Faith sings almost exclusively in English, except for the tail ends of the verses and the parts where she sings with Solomon.  Solomon, on the other hand sings exclusively in Hausa and it's actually the part he sings (in the middle or thereabout) that marks where the song "picks up" and enters another dimension.  If I didn't know better, I would have thought his voice was an instrument in its own right.  It is the highlight of this song, in other words.  The harmony/duet part is just sweet, abeg, and so are the background vocals.  I have no idea what they're saying, but the passion in their voices makes it a worthwhile experience. Plus the parts sung in English make sure you're not completely clueless.

The outro was just .... Ah! I wanted more of it, I won't even lie.  If you listen to that last few seconds at the tail end of the song, where Faith sings 'Seriki, etc' and then 'Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh ..." Yes, that part.  That adlib (or whatever you want to call it) was perfect and I just wish she hadn't left it till the last minute.  The music was quiet enough for us to savour those juicy bits (Wait, are we reviewing music or food here? *smh*).  I don't know about you, but I wanted more of that.  The songwriting was fine, but could be better.  Although this song is 5:02, I didn't feel like it dragged on or needed to be reduced because of the fact that each section was different, not just mere repitition.  That took some of the monotony out of it, in my opinion.  You've just got to love Hausa language! I know I do.

Dislikes:  I was not sure how to say this without hurting Faith Yebo's feelings, but here's what I truly feel:  Solomon Lange TOOK OVER this song.  I mean, from the very beginning and most especially in the part where he features prominently, he "owns" this song and leaves you with that "I came, I saw, I conquered" impression.  The problem though is that he is the "featured" artiste and not the main artiste, and that's why I put it under the "Dislike" section, i.e. I don't dislike this aspect of this song.  It's just that in terms of performance, the song runs contrary to what was advertised.  Have I succeeded in confusing you even more? LOL! Please let me know your thoughts on this one because that's the singular thing that struck me about this song.

In all fairness to Faith though, I have 3 possible reasons for this: (1) That part was right smack in the middle, i.e. it was the climax of the song, so I suppose it had to go up several notches  (2) Solomon has a stronger voice than Faith (3) That's just about the only place Solomon sings (apart from his brief debut in the intro), so can we agree that it was his time to shine? LOL! Okay Relentless, that's enough.

Recommendations:  (1) The background vocals need to be toned down a bit because they were drowning out Faith's voice in some parts (2) More adlibs (in Hausa, please) from Faith Yebo from the very beginning, not just towards the end.

More information on Faith follows:

Artiste's Stage Name:  Faith Yebo

Artiste's Real Name:  Faith Yebo


Connect with Faith:  Facebook, Twitter

That's it from me.  See y'all later!


Ahn ahn? They ate the book? na wa oooo. I never heard of snails eating paper. You must have been 'flabberwhelmed'.
I had the kuye book, cos they told us to buy it in school, but I never got to read it and we never used it in school.

oh i remember t6he book, it was red, i had it too! for the life of me i can't remember the story at all...snails eat paper, rats eat gas hose, what will i not hear in this country the animals here umm..smh!

Jemima

oh i remember t6he book, it was red, i had it too! for the life of me i can't remember the story at all...snails eat paper, rats eat gas hose, what will i not hear in this country the animals here umm..smh!

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Hahaha @ snails learning yoruba. Relentless!!!
 i remember that book too! i used it in school and...can't remeber the story too but i rembr we coined a line from all the yoruba books we were supposed to be reading then. 1) Jen logba temi (green cover) 2) Abe abo(i rembr this well cos it was about a pastor *doing* a church member) and 3)Kuye
 we made it: Jen logba temi, labe abo kuye lol bad children abi

LOL!!! Clown is what you are. LOL! They ate the ISBN ehn. Actually never knew they eat paper though.
 
Heard bout Kuye but never read it. Story sounds interesting from the heading. Kinda reminds me of a set of young good-looking men I saw this weekend discussing in sign language, four of 'em. It was a sight to behold. They all laughed and exchanged information without a single sound. Imagine if they were written off and discouraged like Kuye (I guess).

Atilola:  Me neither, but I learnt my lesson that day.  "Flabberwhelmed" doesn't being to describe how I felt. If only they had done my homework and written my exam for me, I might not have been upset ... or felt like dealing with them.

Ha, so the Kuye book wasn't only recommended for my school.  Wait, so after buying the book, you guys didn't use it? Na wa o! The snails would have happily devoured it for that reason alone.

Jemima:  Yeeesssssssssssss!!!! It was red!!!! I almost wrote it in my post, but wasn't sure until you confirmed it here!  So you had it too?  Me too, I can't really remember the story.  I know the boy had a disability (hence the curse words against him) and it was a grass to grace story, but other details are fuzzy.  LOL! Rats eat gas hose?  My Lord! Are they normal rats or some mutated rats? *Screaming and doing the sign of the Cross*

Jemima:  Yeeesssssssssssss!!!! It was red!!!! I almost wrote it in my post, but wasn't sure until you confirmed it here!  So you had it too?  Me too, I can't really remember the story.  I know the boy had a disability (hence the curse words against him) and it was a grass to grace story, but other details are fuzzy.  LOL! Rats eat gas hose?  My Lord! Are they normal rats or some mutated rats? *Screaming and doing the sign of the Cross*

AdeOla:  Yes, they did. And they didn't apologize :-(

Toin:  You need to have seen the way I started laughing after reading your comment.  Naughty, Naughty sheedrens! Just thinking of it cracks me up everytime: "Je n logba temi, l'abe abo Kuye!" Hilarious! I guess y'all had to make the Yoruba class interesting somehow ... LOL!

Do you know we had to read the EXACT same books? Your description of each book is correct.  I remember the "Abe Abo" one precisely for the reason you stated.  I guess my innocenty look won't help me here. He he!

And yes now, the snails wanted to learn Yoruba.  Why else would they eat a Yoruba book?  If curiousity killed the cat, then maybe snails died from "over-jacking." #Random

Mike:  Me too, I didn't know until that day.  I thought goats were strange for eating paper, cloth (and Lord knows what else) until snails joined the club.

Michael, for someone who never read the book, you have a good grasp of the plot.  Whoever gisted you did a good job.  Your story actually reminded me of the plot.  Yes, now I remember.  Kuye could not speak and I think he also could not hear.  The young men you described for some reason remind me of those black and white movies.  Body language accounts for a good chunk of communication.  So, I've heard.

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