In Tekno’s ‘Wayo’, Nico Mbarga’s ‘Sweet Mother’ rhythm comes in handy

After a music hiatus, singer Teckno announced his return on Friday with the track Wayo, which followed this collaboration with Mr Eazi’s emPawa Africa platform.

Born Augustine Okechukwu, he broke into the Nigerian music industry in 2013 with his hit song, ‘Holiday’, and is renowned for his style of four-letter-theming songs.

The ‘Pana’ crooner is known for his creative writing, singing, and production skills. Recently, he was in the news as the writer of Davido’s hit song, “If.”

‘Wayo’ is a highlife and contemporary Afrobeat love song that samples the rhythm of Nico Mbarga’s 1976 classic “Sweet Mother.”

Starting with a trumpet and a response by a saxophone, ‘Wayo’ tells the story of a man who has fallen in love with a girl but is careful not to be hurt again.

Lyrics

He starts the song singing, “Love e no easy e

Love e no easy, oh

Na why I dey on my guard,” implying that love isn’t an easy fit. Though beautiful, he still looks out for himself.

The song uses the bass lines from Sweet Mother as the music bed, adopting the same rhythm but at a different tempo.

The 31-year-old singer appraises an investment terminology of return on investment, asking his love, “If I invest in my love.

Shey I go see return?”. There, he asks to ascertain whether or not she will be worth his time, money, and emotions as he intends to invest all of himself in her. He also affirms his loyalty and commitment to her as he sings, “I no come do wayo

I no come do wayo, oh.”

In the second verse, he pours out his heart: “Do you really believe in this thing they call love?

Or you just dey whine,” asking her if she really believes in what they share or if she’s just cruising. Furthermore, he sings, “You never ready, you just dey migirimo”, implying that she isn’t ready yet. She’s just playing around.

“How do you feel? Tell me, what’s the reason you wan dey play my heart?

I be human like you. You no dey reason, you no dey feel my pain

I don kolo oh-oh. Here, he asks her if she considers that though he’s a man, though he loves her, he is first human, and her negligence and abandonment of his love hurts him.

Verdict

Wayo means to be dubious, to play games, to be cunning. Still, as you listen to the song, you realise the song takes more of an antonymous approach as he instead establishes that he isn’t any ill definition Wayo may imply as he wants something profound, something serious, something real.

Another exciting thing about the song is the adoption of Nico Mbarga’s 1976 Sweet Mother’s rhythm and blending it so well to create a familiar yet contemporary sound and approach towards highlife without importing the song’s lyrics.

This approach gives life, and a modern experience of highlife proves that though he may have been off the scene for a while, the impact of his vernacular name ‘Okechukwu’ (gift of God) still takes precedence

‘Wayo’ gets a 7/10.

Watch the official video below