Sauti Sol is bringing Kenya to the world.
The ‘Kuliko Jana‘ release by Sauti Sol and Redfourth Choir was released in 2016, and now 3 years later the track has been re-released by a German artist who goes by the name Oonagh. The young German woman sings the Swahili lyrics of the chorus quite well while singing the verses in her native German. Upbeat yet still as powerful, the track has had great success. With a distinct latina reggaetone sound, the track is fun and an easy listen, despite for being different from the Sauti Sol original.
Sharing the news with fans, Sauti Sol took to Instagram proud of their accomplishments. They captioned the image, “If this doesn’t inspire someone today, nothing else will.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzcsluTB2Wd/
The original release by Sauti Sol has gained over 8.5M views on YouTube. The track from the group’s third album ‘Live and Die in Afrika’ was one of the most popular to tracks of 2016 in Kenya. As reported by Sauti Sol, a viral clip of Sauti Sol in an a-cappella version of KULIKO JANA with the Red Fourth Chorus caught the attention of international celebrities and media to the point where Amber Riley, star of the Emmy award-winning Show Glee, posted on Instagram, “I don’t understand what they’re saying but I know it’s beautiful. Sounds angelic- anyone knows if there’s a full video?” Other celebrities who posted the viral video include Master P, Anthony Hamilton, Jb Smoove, Ooand WorldstarHipHop, among other international news sites.
This is not the first time the track ‘Kuliko Jana’ has been covered. In November 2016, the track was also covered by Layonn, garnering 450K views on YouTube.