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 throw a few words of lingala in their lyrics just to spice things up a bit, so to speak - even though some do not themselves understand the language. Let it make it clear that I never met Musa Juma in person and whatever I know about him is what is already in public domain.
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.
A strong case can be made that Musa Juma could not only understand much of Lingala but could speak it as well. In his Orchestra Limpopo International Band he had not less than four Congolese band members at any one time including Frank Libe, Salapata Salawowo, Jose Muzungu, Vasca da Gama and Professor Azile all of whom are fluent in spoken Lingala. In the song "Auma" Musa Juma sings, "Nitafanya nini mpo oyeba nalingi yo ming oh?" (What can I do so that you may know that I love so much?). In another track titled "Siaya Kababa" he uses the phrase "baby na motema" (baby of my heart), "mziki santimaa" (slow peaceful music). In a less famous piece titled Hellena, he sings "Bolingo esilaka te, kasi mbongo esilaka" (Love has no end but money eventually runs out/ends). In the same song he uses the phrase "yaka yaka mama" (Come, come mama). And of course there are the common words he throws around here and there in almost all tracks like cherie (darling), bolingo na ngai (my love), papa (father), mwana mboka (home boy) and motema (heart).
All these instances are indicative of a person who knew a bit of Lingala, at the very least, enough to compose a sensible sentence. Or maybe, he knew more than that, we couldn't prove or disprove it. If he knew more than functional lingala then we can safely assume that he steered clear from singing or composing entire songs in the language for reasons best known to him. May his soul rest in peace.
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