Chris Theko
This week on The Review, we go all the way to Maputsoe to listen to Crazy T’s one of many singles titled Sponono alongside Chereh Sputswe & Tay Loc.
Released on December 28, 2021, the track runs for a good 3 minutes 21 seconds and was built on 91 beats per minute (BPM), laid on a 16/16-time signature.
Produced by CS with Mc Sgila the beat maker, the tune is about
“Spononoâ€(a beautiful woman). It talks about her beauty which is out of this world.
It initially kicks off with a melodious piano chord and smooth percussions followed immediately by a hook from the artist. Though dubbed Afropop, the track is more of an RnB classic with an afrobeats touch sang purely in Sesotho throughout.
It opens with a hook handled by Crazy T, on which he talks about the African beauty type of a woman.
“Ngoan’enoa ke sponono, ngoan’enoa ke sponono, African beauty and she is physically fit…â€
The hook is nice but auto-tune is overly used. In fact, it is the very identity of the song as it encompasses every element of the number not just on the chorus but throughout the song and by all the artists on the track.
Instrumentally, the song’s arrangement is built in a modern-day RnB sound, well-orchestrated yet the production quality is not much of a world class but okay.
The repetitive lead guitar strings are accompanied by the piano chord with some appearance of light percussions and bongo drums in the background and heavy towards the end of the song.
For his part, Chere talks about how a certain lady is the one he wants even when he wakes up that is all he thinks about hence she is the one that stole his heart.
Tay Loc, wraps up the last verse with some Sesotho personification of this African beauty. He mixes his Sesotho with a little of iSizulu to emphasize the message.
In general, the idea of the song was great but the concept of auto-tune and the redundant beat made the song not so much enjoyable. I feel like the three artists combined together with the beat maker and the producer could have done a better job.
However, I give props to the Sesotho wordplay used in the song from the first verse to the last. It is an example of pure talent in the songwriting capabilities of the artists.
Sponono rates at 4 out of 10.
