Chris Theko
This week we are gauging the music video of Lesotho-based Congolese artiste, Yemba Shungu, for his latest single titled “I Hope”.
The song runs for 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
The hip hop joint was built on 80 beats per minute (BPM) and 8/8 time signature.
The video features his fellow Jenuine Hype record label vocalist Ray Mote and was released on 12 August 2020.
He took a much laid back melody on this one compared to his D2amajoe or Foreign Currency days.
The beat of the song has a chilled vibe with percussions shadowing a consistent chord vibration.
Produced by Phil Vigilante, the visuals depict the story of a young man who meets and approaches a woman who is reluctant to entertain him.
She however, gives in on realising that they have met before and they begin their relationship.
What I love about the storyline as portrayed also by flashbacks in the video, is that this is a continuation of his first single Hele which was released 3 years ago.
The music video of Hele shows Shungu as a guy who sees a beautiful lady across the street, approaches her and they have a brief exchange.
The vixen part is played by social media influencer Priscilla Ntlaloe who appears in both videos.
On the songs chorus, Shungu sings about a former lover whose dreams he hopes have come true along with everything else she has worked towards despite the fact that they were no longer in a relationship.
The rapper interchanges between melodic singing aided by autotune and raps over Iryson and Redashs catchy Afro beats.
I Hope will appear on Shungu’s debut extended play titled African Son which will only have six songs. Although the exact release date has not been set.
Shungu started recording music in 2011 but only gained popularity on the Lesotho music scene after he was discovered by Kommanda Obbs in 2012 and signing for TÅ¡epe Records under the rap group D2AMAJOE in 2013.
Since going solo in 2016, he started his own independent record label popularly known as Jenuine Hype through which he has recently been releasing music starting with his first official single Hele, which was arguably one of the biggest local songs of 2017.
Since bursting on to the scene, the 26-year-old has been known for singing in English, Sesotho and French as well as for his dynamic raps.
Back to the video, credit must be given to the man behind the camera and his team for top quality production. For a long time the music industry lacked good quality music videos but with the introduction and rise of videographers such as Phil Vigilante, the production has improved immensely.
The I Hope video is one quality piece of work and deserves to be viewed as many times as possible on YouTube so do check it out on Yemba Shungu channel. Currently it is sitting on 1 800 views after 5 months.
And one can only wonder why the video has not appeared on some of the biggest music channels such as Channel O and MTV.
I Hope by Yemba Shungu ft Ray Mote rates at 8.5 fff
