on salawa

She brought down the house with her most famous song, the title of which very few women know, though they know all the words. With plenty of attitude, Salawa Abeni and the women in the house sang the lines: "Won l'asewo ni mi - they say I'm a loose woman" - in what must surely now be regarded as a Yoruba feminist anthem.

Second half of the show, and the Waka queen emerged surprisingly unchanged fashion-wise, save for a fresh application of lip-gloss. In the true Yoruba musical tradition of praising oneself as one praises others, Abeni sang of herself onstage as: "Oloro tutu bii ti Mandela (soft-spoken as Mandela)." After Carry Go and E ji jo mi came the most emotionally touching moments of the show.

The above is from my piece on Salawa Abeni's show of 28 May in London - available to read online for one week only.

Related posts: 1, 2 & 3