‘You are the Iron of my Bra’: An Igbo love song by Chigul Omeruah

I have not five minutes ago been made aware of the comedic talent of this person, who goes by the name of Chigul Omeruah on YouTube. I watched her ‘Gus-ip’ round-up of the Gulder Ultimate Search competition, a Nigerian show sponsored by Gulder beer that is a cross between ‘Survivor’ and ‘I’m A Celebrity’ from what I have heard. I laughed. Then I went on YouTube and stuck gold. Maybe I find her so funny because of her ability to improvise, her gift for observation – we all know someone, an ‘aunty’ who sounds or acts like she does. Maybe it’s just because she sounds like she’s a crazy Igbo girl which is right up my street.

Or maybe it’s that catch-phrase: Ngwa byeeee! I mean we all say it, especially at the end of phone conversations but somehow she’s just made it hers.

You watch the video below and decide. I’m off to watch some more myself, in a rather uncharacteristic fashion. Ngwa byeeeeee.

(I am so getting that printed on a t-shirt.)

Update: I thought this one deserved to be seen so I tagged it on.

Blogger of the moment: Yagazie Emezi

Yagazie Emezi

Way back when I was still pregnant with Tot and determined to give him a strong Igbo name, I took to the internet to make sure that the name I thought I made up didn’t already exist.

It did.

And it belonged to just one person.

Her name is Yagazie Emezi and she is awesome. For some reason, I don’t visit her site very often – probably once in three or four months. I’ll just be doing something when ‘Bam!’, I just have to check out her site and see what she’s up to. Maybe that’s the reason I didn’t notice myself falling in love with her. She sneaks up on you. Eziokwu, I love her karia  Flavour N’abania right now and you guys know that it is not obere ihe I am talking about. I discovered her before I did Flavour anyway so everything is as it should be.

Another reason I love her? That accent. It is just a thick, Igbo, okro soup of an accent. She interjects with Igbo while she is speaking. (Her mum is Malay. I only mention this because a trip to Enugu state will give you twice as many American accents as you would find in the USA from people who haven’t even been across the borders of the state. If any of those fake-ass Enugu chicks had even a drop of blood from outside Nigeria…in fact Fulani blood sef, you could be sure that everyone would understand how they could not be expected to know any Igbo. And treat them with all adoration necessary.)

Needless to say, I did not name Tot ‘Yagazie’ in the end. Reading  just a few paragraphs of her blog with show you what I saw: She possesses the name completely. Everything else would be a counterfeit.

Check out her youtube vids too (and I added a link to her name for those that didn’t know you could click the photo to get to her blog):

Some kind of village romance

Hubs is into his OHTV and BET and AIT. He flicked to hiTV and I saw this video:

I didn’t know of the singer before now but I have since learned she is Chidinma, Season 3 winner of Nigerian music talent show, Project Fame.

Her singing is not too bad. I’d go as far as to say it’s quite nice. I like the concept of the video down to her romance with the village palm wine tapper on his bicycle.

My only niggle? No Igbo maiden of that age would have a wrapper tied so short. (I can just hear my grandmother’s voice in my head: Gini? Are you mad? In fact why are you exposing your laps to all and sundry when your mates are tying *ukwu akwa n’abo and have three children each? Ifele eme chi.)

* A married Igbo woman is symbolised by the two wrappers she ties on her waist, on on top of the other.