Mbekezeli 1010 – Wawukhona Yini

It sounds like something said with a raised eyebrow. Everybody has a moment in their life when they needed help, a call, a small loan or just company, and certain people were nowhere to be found. Later, those same people reappear when things improve, full of warmth and smiles. A question like this is the polite version of calling that out, and Nigerians in particular will recognise the energy.

What makes the title strong is that it does not shout. It simply asks, and the silence after the question does most of the work. That is a clever way to approach a bitter subject, because the listener fills in their own list of names without being told who to think about.

The record is on the Lawufaka Ilunda album, and a title that points an accusing finger at nobody in particular gives the project a reflective moment where the listener can settle with their own memories.

It is a song for the person who remembers everything and says very little about it. Sometimes the best answer to people who vanished and came back is just to ask them, calmly, where they were when it counted.

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