VIDEO REVIEW: ‘Urembo’ by Calvomistari, Amos and Josh has contradictory message

A poster for the the video ‘Urembo’ by Calvomistari, Amos and Josh. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Perhaps he hadn’t thought about the lyrics. I’ll ask him the next time I see him.
  • I think the main problem here is that I am tired of this constant conversation. Should women wear weaves? Makeup? Fake eyebrows? The simple answer is yes – if they want to.
  • I don’t appreciate songs that insist on dictating what a woman – or indeed, a human - should look or dress like.

On the plus side, CalvoMistari’s raps are getting marginally better. On the negative side, they’re getting better in a very confusing way.

Amos and Josh look very sharp in this video that came out last week, with their monochrome outfits complimenting the bright background and Calvo’s technicolour jacket. The ladies in the video, I assume selected because of their popularity and range, look pretty good in the video as well; Kalekye Mumo, Nderaisho Mshila, Melissa Nzisa Kioko and Adelle Onyango, just to name a few, make up the beautiful selection of beautiful women, each lovely in their own way.

The video is simple and straightforward, complimenting the message from the melodiously sung chorus: Urembo ni Wewe, which means Beauty is You – beauty is what you decide it is, beauty is what you want it to be. Amos and Josh pass this missive along perfectly. When you get to the verses, there is some mention about how urembo ni tabia na roho safi, which I appreciate. But then there are a couple of lines that distract from this and go into whet feels like a personal agenda; when Calvo mentions the ills of makeup in both and how people fall in love with women’s faces, not knowing that it is not really their faces they are seeing.

If urembo ni wewe, then shouldn’t that include women who wear makeup too? Even more laughable is the fact that many women in this video, if not all, are wearing makeup as well. Is he mocking them, or just oblivious to the contradictory message?

Perhaps he hadn’t thought about the lyrics. I’ll ask him the next time I see him. I think the main problem here is that I am tired of this constant conversation. Should women wear weaves? Makeup? Fake eyebrows? The simple answer is yes – if they want to. I don’t appreciate songs that insist on dictating what a woman – or indeed, a human - should look or dress like. Perhaps Calvo was looking to comment on the fact that he doesn’t like women who wear makeup. Then he shouldn’t have had women with makeup in his video. Or maybe he meant he only likes the ones with a little makeup? And if he really does feel like that, he still has no right to imply in his second verse that women who wear makeup on the outside are somewhat fake on the inside, as if he’s done a survey with all the women on the earth’s surface to conclude as such.

If a woman wants to wear makeup, then she should. If she doesn’t, that’s also her business. This body policing is exactly what results in ridicule of the female body, and people treating it like a mannequin in a store that can be dressed up to please others. Wear a burqa or a bikini; foundation, or Vaseline. Urembo ni wewe.

Watch the video here.