By Staff Writer
I had yet another experience of Nyege Nyege. A fourth year here means you come off much calmer, with less movements, and begin to follow a certain flow.
This Nyege Nyege found me even more prepared. The one thing I truly mastered from Kenya this year was the phrase; “Wamlambez…Wamunyonyez…”
When Nyege Nyege came around, I was on top of my game. There’s something so real, so nice about this Kenyan hits, most of which have been banned off official airwaves in Kenya. Wamlambez is one of them. No one did beat the Kenyans when it came to dancing. Whether it was Wabebe, Accelerator, name it all, the men and women always killed it to perfection. It is rumoured that whenever Kenyans lost a friend in a crowd; they just had to shout; “wamlambez” this time not to mean sucking but where are you? The friend would reply; “wamunyonyez” not to mean licking but; “here I am.”
But then came the phrase that completely took over was; “party after party.” It is the only infinite phrase in Uganda. It has no end to it. You just keep saying party after party after party….
Of course, you know it did not rain despite my prayers yet again. The rainy nyege nyege has still built this unforgettable memories in the minds of most. We look forward to a return of the rain.
Now, the secret of Nyege Nyege is to be at the right stage at the right time. Because you could all be at Nyege Nyege at the same time and be experiencing totally different things. You ought to have the intuition to shift and change stages. It takes an experience or one or two nyege nyegez for this to build in. Of course this also means that you become good at navigating the place. Most people leave nyege nyege without mastering the way around.
There was the mighty reggae stage. The Tanga girls did conquer this during most morning hours. But at night, reggae took the best of it. Nothing beats a reggae chill by the river side late in the night; finding inspiration in roots and chalice. It felt like a commune with Jah.
The electronica area is where you went to test your nyege levels. If you danced to the max while here then you had reached the point.
Now I have read some claims of lost phones. I must say, if a phone is lost at nyege nyege, it is most likely a case of absolute carelessness. And it should be to friends hanging around a person. I have attended events and I must confess, no one does a better job that the Nyege security team.
I have often been asked; “what happens at Nyege?” Let me confess that Nyege Nyege is what you make it, it is how you choose to define it. If you want it to be a high experience, then it will be one. If you want it to be a dancing experience both literally and figuratively, then it will be. Nyege Nyege is what you will it to be. Above all, there is not gonna be a place where you will engage in radical self-expression. Deep down, I now think nyege nyege is a place for exploding creativity. You come here and have four days to explore self, be self, imagine self and create self. The music is just there to guide you on this journey.
At some point I carried out at experiment of free hugs and it worked just fine. I went with flu and returned with none of it. Something smoky about the air that clears all ailments.
My only problem with Nyege Nyege is that it ends. You wait a whole year for it and then boom, it is gone in less than 4 days. That is the problem with all good things in life, they end. You can’t hold onto them. May be they end so we can always look back on the memories and thank our spirits for dancing to life in full.
To Team Wamlambez, to Team Parte after Parte…. cheers to Nyege Nyege 2020.
Photography by Nyege Nyege Fest.