Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Cheryl Waters, host of The Midday Show on KEXP, is "Na Kozonga" by Jupiter & Okwess, a 2020 single on Everloving Records.
The phrase "Na Kozonga" translate to "the return" in the Congolese language of Lingala, and that's what Jupiter & Okwess was looking forward to after the 180-date worldwide tour promoting their 2017 album Kin Sonic: returning home. The song is dedicated to bandleader Jupiter Bokondji's father, who passed away recently, and the accompanying music video, filmed in his hometown of Kinshasa, shows the musician boarding a plane to return to his family in Africa, with a "metaphysical" detour. Afropop.org reports the song is about “a mystical universe strewn with spirits and African allegorical incarnations, from Mami Wata (Mummy water) to Aniotas.”
The song is a cover of "Gotta Go Home," a 1979 single by German disco-funk group Boney M, which was a re-written take on the 1973 track "Hallo Bimmelbahn" by brothers Heinz and Jürgen Huth. "Na Kozonga" is the title track from Jupiter & Okwess' forthcoming full-length, which is scheduled for release in 2021.
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