The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I have been a lazy blogger for many years. Especially after posting 233 blog posts in 2013. After my mum transitioned on on June 6, 2022, I told myself I needed to write a book. I'd get back to the book bit later. I promised to write lots of blog posts in 2023 too. It has not gone too well until now.  I (feel I) have a special relationship with music . It is what led me to Museke . As 2023 ends and I hit 40 years of age, I would like to share some of my all-time favorite music. I was going to do one blog post about some all-time favorite songs and how they impact me. I realised the number of songs were increasing as I thought about them. I also realized some of the same musicians were making these songs, and their songs have special places in my heart, head and body , etc for different reasons.  So I present to you the starting eleven of artistes who make music I dey feel waa.  In order of when they started making impact on me.  The years might not be 100% correc...

I asked my Kenyan friends to name their top 5 songs ever, from Kenya . My Kenyan alter-ego, David Ochieng Mwangi , also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around Museke . I also asked Google Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5, while reminiscing this list from 2009 . My first time in Kenya was in 2011. But prior to that, since 2002, I had been learning about Kenyan music from my Kenyan friends at MIT . I got to know more about this when me, Edward Mabonga and others started Museke in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many songs. So I have aggregated 11 , to represent Kenya in the World Cup of #MusicWeDeyFeel . The starting eleven . Drop your opinions, props, suggestions in the comments section . Here we go, in no part...

I am a big sports fan. I remember as far back as 1992, I started following football (soccer) very keenly. I knew the name of many footballers, where they played and where they were from. We had no internet but my friends and I knew the latest news and Sports Highlights (every Monday on GTV) was our favorite program. At some point, we knew so much information, we would organize quizzes for our friends. I've seen a lot of footballers play over the years. Positioning in football has changed, we have people like Ronaldinho wearing jersey #80 and Beckham #23, a marked departure from the days, each person in the starting team had 1 through 11 and a position to play. I am going to discuss my winning eleven, the top players I've seen play the 11 positions in football. I will be choosing circa 1992 and onward. That removes people like Pele, Maradona, Platini, Roger Milla and everyone who was the gangarea before 1992 from my list. Let's do this. #1 - Goalkeeper: There are a number of...

I asked my Senegalese friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from Senegal . I do not have a Senegalese alter-ego yet, but I have met Gelongal and Youssou Ndour and I led  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5. My first time in  Senegal  was in 2016. But prior to that, since 2002, I had been learning about Senegalese music from my  African friends , all around the USA, while at  MIT . I got to know more about this when me,  Edward Mabonga, Phelele Fakudze  and others started  Museke  in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many songs. So I have aggregated  11 , to represent Senegal in the World Cup of  #MusicWeDeyFeel ...

I am a big sports fan. I remember as far back as 1992, I started following football (soccer) very keenly. Yes, I know I started the other blog with that statement but hey, it's worth saying again. I presented my first eleven of players I have seen play. In this post, I will present my winning eleven first-team squad (with 5 reserves) of African players I've seen play. Positioning in football has changed, where we have players wearing jerseys 80, but we have the 11 positions on the field of play. I think it's great we have African players challenging for world best these days. George Weah is still the only guy to do it (in 1995), but Abedi Pele, and Roger Milla were very good in their heyday as well. Samuel Eto'o was adjudged top 3 in 2005 too. Aight, first 11 is up. #1 - Goalkeeper: Africa has always had some great goalies, but none have really gone to the pinnacle of club soccer (at least in Europe). Essam El-Hadary has been excellent though and he's been doing it...

I asked my friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from  South Africa . My South African alter-ego,  Siyabonga Andile Mthimkhulu , also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5, while reminiscing this  list from 2009 . My first time in  South Africa  was in 2011. But prior to that, I had been hearing a lot of South African music (not like circa 2011 though) on Ghanaian TV. I did not meet that many South Africans at  MIT . I got to know much more about South African music when me,  Phelele Fakudze,  and others started  Museke  in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many song...

I asked my Nigerian  friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from  Nigeria . My Nigerian alter-ego,  Ayooluwaato Eze , also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5, while reminiscing this  list from 2009 . My first time in  Nigeria  was in 2011. But prior to that, I had been hearing a lot of Nigerian music (not like circa 2011 though) on Ghanaian TV. I did not even have to learn too much from my  Nigerian friends  at  MIT . I got to know much more about Nigerian music when me,  Edward Mabonga  and others started  Museke  in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many son...

 I asked some friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from  Ivory Coast . I have not outdoored an alter-ego from Cote D'Ivoire. One of these days. I leveraged my knowledge about Ivorian music as well, thanks to all I have learnt around  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (not through Google Sheets this time) & some other competitors of theirs). You know AI is is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5. My first time in  Ivory Coast   was in 2015. This was thanks to Nescafe , and I am not even a big fan of coffee. I am a big fan of dancing, and you know Ivorians make serious danceable music, starting from Coupé-décalé. Prior to 2015, I had been listening to a lot of Ivorien music . The funny thing I never really met Ivorians until I returned to Ghana from the US. Prior to 2011 , I had befriended several Ivorians through Twitter, thanks to the Barcamp movement across the continent . Barcamp Abidjan - Barcamp Babi....

I asked some friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from  Angola . My main alter-ego is called Roberto Mendes. One of these days, I would wrtie about him. He also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (not through Google Sheets this time) & some other competitors of theirs). You know AI is is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5, while reminiscing this  list from 2009 . My first time in  Angola  was in 2016. Thinking about it is making me tear up. Not kidding . I was beside myself with joy when I had the chance to travel to Angola , thanks to Lourdes Fernandes . But prior to that, I had been listening to a lot of Angolan music, especially Kizomba . The first Angolan I met in my life was Isabel Correia and she was not an  MIT  student. We did not have some at ErmmmMIghty. She introduced me to Angolan music and eventually became a contributor for  Museke...