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CD Review- Baisikeli By Valerie Kimani


CD Review- Baisikeli

Valerie Kimani, winner of Tusker Project Fame Reality Talent Show, secured a 3 year recording contract with Gallo Records,  and produced this stunning ablum Baisikeli.
I can say for a fact this is a superb album no doubt about it.
It is a mix of slow, mellow and a number of fast-paced tracks covering various sounds. Here, you’re definitely going to pick out unique nuances of South African and East Africa (Uganda and Kenyan) music intonations.
The album features renditions of widely played and still fresh tunes like, “Fever” and “Besame Mucho”.
And original, vernacular (Kikuyu) tracks like “Ngugi ii” and “Hoi and Hoi” are some of the highlights of this album. Here you can sense the great command of language (this being her native language- Kikuyu) as she belts outs these two incredible tunes to the listener’s appreciation. This affirms my strong believe in that, our greatest strength and potential to sell locally and internationally lies in us doing more vernacular pieces. That’s where our creativity lies and where we can express ourselves to the marvel of the world.
Valeria also team up with Maurice Kirya, Uganda’s hotshot, in the killer track “Village girl”.
Bottom line- this is a well crafted album which has the input of some of the best producers, artists and instrumentalists locally and internationally (Kenya, Uganda and South Africa). The project team put together (many Thanks to East African Breweries) to deliver on this great piece of work, certainly, didn’t disappoint.

You’ve got to hear it to appreciate it…..
“Baisikeli”, is definitely a MUST buy.

Valerie Kimani has certainly come of age…..

If there was any iota of doubt if Valerie can sing and certainly “wow” music lovers this album does put that to rest. She has the vocals, flair and everything, musically, to make it big in the music scene. This album clearly attests to that. You go girl!

GREAT PICKS
Tembo; A great dance-able track; you’ll love it

Ndoto Langu (In my head)

Nguga ii (I will say Yes)

Village girl (duet)

Baisikeli; This is the title track to the album and I must confess I didn’t quite like it but after a while it grew on me and it is one of my favorites in the album.
And again the whole collection is great… I hope you’ll love it as much as I did… Enjoy!
Rating: 4/5
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