NEO•GRIOT

Estelle reps in Pidgin English

on "Oliver Twist" cover

(free download)

In all likelihood this will be the first time most music fans will have heard Grammy Award winning R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer Estelle speaking or singing in Pidgin English, but then she is half-Senegalese and there can't be many people with roots in West Africa who do not understand Pidgin, a lingua franca that has had its cultural cachet boosted in the last few years as more and more artists employ it (it already had street cred).

DOWNLOAD Estelle's Oliver Twist remix

The occasion is Estelle's “ladies version” of Nigerian star and G.O.O.D music signee D'banj's hit Oliver Twist, for which, you'll recall, he ran a fan video competition last year.

Estelle gives a shout-out to her American and British buddies, Kanye West, Usher, Tinie Tempah (although Tinie is of Nigerian descent), but reserves her best love for African brothers.

I have a confession
So you gotta listen
I love my Kanye West
But e dey na Paris
I love my Usher, baby
E no like marriage
I like my Tinie Tempah
But e no go manage ...
I like my English boys
I like Jamaicans
I like American boys ...
But nothing can compare ...
I love my African boys
No matter where they from.

Judging by some of the YouTube comments it hasn't gone down well with everyone. Our guess is D'banj fans love the original so much they can't bear for anyone to mess with it. That and the sense that the namedropping here doesn't come with the same degree of irony or humour as the original.

Nonetheless we like it, and it's got us doing our shakey shakey bumbum moves again and looking forward to D'banj's official video for the track.

Speaking of which, some of D'banj's fans apparently got rather pissed off with him recently following a Tweet by Mo'Hits' video director Sesan stating "D’Banj Oliver Twist video shoot tomorrow, it is going to be CRAZY", "tomorrow" in this instance being the day scheduled for one of the nationwide protests against the Nigerian government's removal of the fuel subsidy. One fan Tweeted back "you (Sesan) and D’Banj are mad, despite the brouhaha in the country, [you are shooting a video]. At least, D’Banj na (is his) son" [a reference to the somewhat cozy relationship D'banj has with the president]. Another fan asked, "is D’Banj not a Nigerian?"

The latest news on the situation in Nigeria is that President Goodluck Jonathan has announced a 35% cut in petrol prices, thus partially reinstating the subsidy. However, the President said the move is only a short-term response to ease hardships, as "The government will continue to pursue full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector." So, a bit of relief but we're not yet out of the woods.

Estelle's forthcoming album, All of Me, is out Feb. 28. You can check out Thank You, one of the singles from the album, on iTunes, or watch the video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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VIDEO FAB:

Estelle's "Thank You" Video

Jan 18 | by Natasha