Ndile’s stunning visuals for ‘Vipi’ out
By Rosalia David
TANZANIA-based rapper Robert Ndile, known in the trade as Lo SayAloha Ski, has released a new music video titled ‘Vipi’, which he says means “What’s up?” in Swahili. Lo SayAloha is known for hits such as ‘I Need’ and ‘Utakuwa Wapi.
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In an exclusive interview with Confidente recently, he described his latest single as a fun song, which he never thought would get the reception it did after its debut. “I was actually in Namibia at the time freestyle rapping about a car I was in at that moment on a beat I found on YouTube, after I uploaded it on my Instagram page I got positive feedback so I then decided to archive the post,” he explained.
After a few days, he said, he linked up with a producer named Chris Tronix who introduced him to a couple of beats and instantly connected to the rhythm of the ‘Vipi’ beat. “When he played some beats for me on headphones, I loved the beat when and hearing the harmonic violin and chaotic 808’s at the right tempo I knew that was the beat,” Lo SayAloha said.
He first tested the water by performing the song in clubs before the lockdown and at shows in Tanzania, and the crowd reacted well to it. “It is funny how I performed the song for about a year and some months before releasing it and I actually had this one performance where the speakers at the show almost blew up, that 808 is insane!
” he told Confidente.
“Some people actually feel that the drums are distorted by mistake but that is how we want it to sound, other than that the audience within my reach really loved it. And I appreciate their support, belief in my contribution to music.”
Now that the music video for ‘Vipi’ is out of the way Lo SayAloha said his focus right now is on the EP he released on 18 April, titled ‘Kofia Kubwa,’ which means “big hat” in Swahili. ‘Kofia Kubwa’ features acts such as Namibian female rapper Lioness, Tanzanian hip hop artist Brian Simba, Con Boi and Turunesh.
“I am a huge fan of these artists and having different producers on ‘Kofia Kubwa’ is icing on the cake.
All musicians I featured have their own unique sound, contributing to the overall aesthetic of the project. It’s currently available on my YouTube page for streaming,” he said.
The Vipi music video was directed by Tanzania-based director Vass.
“We did not plan on shooting it, I ran into him after I knocked off from work and he was shooting a water commercial. We decided to link up later that night and after finding lights, location and people to be in the video we started shooting, we started at like midnight and finished around 3 am. It was shot some time back and only released it now in May,” he added.