It is difficult to tell exactly how much Lingala Musa Juma could speak, but by analyzing the lyrics of his songs we can make a pretty solid estimation. Musa Juma was a Luo from Kenya and there is no evidence that he ever lived, worked in or even visited either of the two Congo republics where Lingala is predominantly spoken. But we also know that a visit or stay in a country is not the only way to interact with a language. From a face-value analysis of Musa Juma's lyrics it is evident that he could at least mumble a few Lingala words. For a person who worked with and lived amongst many Congolese immigrants in Kenya for most of his adult life, it should come at no surprise that he would try singing in the language. The Lingala language is held to a rather higher esteem in the Kenyan music scene more than say Swahili, and is definitely more reputable than local Kenyan dialects like say Dholuo and Kikamba. It is no surprise, therefore, that a Kenyan artiste would strive to ...