Children’s music series, African Lullabies is taking a Pan African approach, 'African Lullabies Part 2' which features top talents from around the continent including our very own Karun,Asa, Ayra Starr, Teni, Simi, WurlD, Olayinka Ehi, Tresor, Manana, Aymos and Ntsika.
Where its predecessor - African Lullabies Part 1 - focused on original compositions by South African singers and songwriters and was sung across various languages, African Lullabies Part 2, expands beyond the borders of South Africa and creates a diverse offering of children’s music in various African languages for babies on the continent and in the diaspora.
Most of the recordings are original compositions by the artists, drawing from their experiences in parenthood, African folklore, while others are interpretations of previously released material arranged and re-recorded as lullabies.
On creating her first children’s song, Karun said, "It’s really cute to have been asked to make a children’s song. This is my first children’s song, I never thought I would. I really enjoy making calm, relaxing music so this made sense. I never saw children’s music as something that I would do but given the opportunity it’s something that I would jump on. I have a son and I like kids, it’s a cool challenge."
Karun added, "I learned a lot about myself when creating this song. I produced the whole song, I love layering vocals, I was playing around with different effects - I learned phasing. It was a lot of learning on the technical side of it. I also learned that there’s a lot more I need to connect with my mother tongue Kikuyu. Me and my grandmother connected over her helping me remember the lullaby at the end of the song. Kikuyu is my first language but I forgot it a long time ago, so I learned that I’m still connected to it."
Speaking ahead of the release, Ayra Starr also said, "My aunt is my world and she just gave birth three months ago. I made the song just before she gave birth, so it was kind of like making a song for my niece. Growing up we made up songs ourselves as children, at school we used to make up our own lullabies because we didn’t want to have to sing “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” When I started making the song I wanted to make something that my younger self would be so proud of. It’s important for more African lullabies to be made because African children need more representation, we didn’t see a lot of that growing up, there weren’t a lot of black dolls and I didn’t get to see a lot of that growing up. I think that African lullabies will inspire children in different ways."
The full tracklist is as follows:
1. Psalms of Suli - Hello Little One
2. Teni - One Day
3. Simi - Iya Ni Wura
4. Karun - Dream Lullaby (Wakarirü)
5. Tresor - La Vie Est Belle
6. Olayinka Ehi - Sweet One
7. Asa - Little Darling
8. Ayra Starr - Stars
9. Aymos - Lullaby Song
10. Ntsika - Busuku Benzolo
11. WurlD - Never Alone
12. Manana - In The Morning
