That Fire LA's Reaction Video & Selected Discussion Thread Comments About Kenyan Music Group Sauti Sol's 2014 Hit Song "Sura Yako"

That Fire LA, Mar 4, 2019

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases That Fire LA's 2019 reaction video of the 2014 song/video "Sura Yako" by the Kenyan music group Sauti Sol.

Selected comments from that video's discussion thread highlight some comments about Kenya's Ruracio (pronounced ru-RAH-she-o*) ceremony that is depicted in that video. 

The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Sauti Sol for their musical legacy. Thanks to Big Ralph and his mother Mama Dee for reacting to this song/video and thanks to thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

*Correction for this pronunciation is welcome. 

This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on African dowry ceremonies such as the Kikuyu's Ruracio pre-wedding ceremony that is highlighted in this video. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/08/kenyan-music-group-sauti-sol-sura-yako.html for a 2020 pancocojams post about this Sauti Sol video and click the "Ruracio pre-wedding ceremony" tag below for additional posts on this subject.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THAT FIRE LA'S REACTION TO SAUTI SOL'S SONG/VIDEO "SURA YAKO"

This reaction video was hosted by (African Americans) Big Ralph and his mother Mama Dee. Neither Big Ralph nor Mama Dee speak Swahili, the language that is used in this song. Some of the comments in that video's discussion thread respond to Mama Dee's comment that she was surprised that this song wasn't slow since she read that it was a wedding song. Some other comments respond to Big Ralph's question about whether that video was an arranged marriage and/or a real marriage.

All of these comments except for the last one are from 2019. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. Njeri M
" "sura yako" means "your looks" , not "your face" . 😀"

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2.  Ms. J
"Literally if you direct translate it means your face but the meaning is your looks.."

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3. King David
"The song simply means 'you are beautiful.. ' like your face is beautiful"

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4.  w4k1- 70wn"This song won song of the year in the Mtv Ema."-snip-Here's information about some awards that Sauti Sol won for their song/video "Sura Yako" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Sauti_Sol

...[Suti Sol won] "Best African Act at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards,^[3] becoming the first Kenyan musicians to receive the award.^[4]

In 2015, the release of their third studio album Live and Die in Afrika saw the group receive continued recognition. The song "Sura Yako" was nominated for 9 awards, winning Most Downloaded Single, Most Downloaded Afro-Pop Single and Most Downloaded Song at the Mdundo Music Awards,^[5] while its music video won YouTube Video of the Year at the Pulse Music Video Awards"..
-snip-
Here's information about MTV EMA from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Europe_Music_Award

"An MTV Europe Music Award (commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) is an award presented by Viacom International Media Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an alternative to the MTV Video Music Awards, which are hosted annually in the United States. The Europe Music Awards are held every year in a different country; it has been hosted mostly in the United Kingdom. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest."-snip-

As of August 2, 2020 at 8:20 AM Sauti Sol's official YouTube video of "Sura Yako" (published September 12, 2014) has 10,080,986 views.

As of August 2, 2020 TFLA's reaction to that song/video (published August 4, 2019) has 39,621 views. That is a very high number of viewers for YouTube reaction videos. Reaction videos are a category of YouTube videos in which the host or hosts react to a music video that they hadn't seen before. Commenters respond to that reaction and recommend other videos that the host should showcase. Because the African American hosts in this particular TFLA reaction video showcases a Kenyan song, most of the commenters are Kenyans.However, it appears to me that a large portion of TFLA's reaction videos showcase songs/videos from South Africa. Most of the commenters in the discussion threads for those videos consists of people from the nation of South Africa. 

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5. Rizmoo (Morris Fred)"this is how the ceremony goes down.  The groom goes to the bride's family to pick the bride on the day of the wedding. and he has to pick her form a line of ladies of same body size and height, if he picks the wrong one, then he is fined, mostly a goat. The issue of dowry is done on a different ceremony. The dowry ceremony differs depending on the tre tribe. I am a kikuyu from Kenya, and our dowry ceremony is called 'ruracio'. this link could help you understand it more. https://www.kce.co.ke/dowry.html "

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6. MUGO MUGO
"ha ha its so awesome watching you guys decipher this video . its not a real wedding though, actually most Africans dont exchange animals anymore, money is the preferred  option for obvious reasons. great reaction as always

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7. Clement Gitonga
"In most African traditions you have to do the traditional wedding before the white wedding, in Kenya traditional ceremonies are recognized by the Govt so you can do just that without the white wedding.. either way the traditional ceremony comes first. Different communities have their own procedures for that but it all involves the guy and his family going to the girls family, the girl’s family say how much dowry they want... usually in cows, goats, sheep and for pastoralists camels, they may negotiate etc, full dowry doesn’t have to be paid right away, it’s basically a lifetime commitment and you can bring some every now and then. After getting the blessings in the traditional ceremony you can now proceed to plan for the white wedding. Regarding the video, the theme is on the traditional ceremony, but in the lyrics he is just praising his girl, telling her that she is beautiful ( Sura yako mzuri mama- your face is beautiful mama)"
-snip-
The term "white wedding" refers to the custom of brides wearing a white dress at a (usually Christian) formal church wedding.

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8. Migwi Samuel
"This is a traditional wedding. The formalities vary with the tribe. We are 43 tribes in Kenya. The standard bethrothing way is a guy taking gifts in cash or in kind to the lady's family. The amount depends on the stage of relationship. White/church wedding may or may not happen"

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9. njeridiva

"Mama Dee is always right on the money. Usually in many African cultures the groom has to demonstrate that he can take care of the wife and future kids so he gives to the family of the bride. It is also a show of gratitude for the parents of the bride for taking care of your wife educating her etc...Its usually opposite of how things are done in the west where the bride gives to the groom's family. The ritual of guessing who your bride is is very common. You should know her so well that you can pick her out of a group of covered girls. In many traditional weddings this is common and you get fined if you pick the wrong girl... Dowry is really not about "paying" as such but more of gratitude and show of ability to provide and take care of your future family. I love how yal just get it. The ancestors are connecting all of us Africans around the world back together again through music. ❤❤❤ Also in the pre-wedding ceremony, it is common for the whole family and friends of the groom to dance their way to the family of the bride to officially "pay" the agreed apon dowry... All this already negotiated before this ceremony... If you are interested in African Traditional weddings and the rituals before and during please youtube "Rurashio" which is one of the Kenyan traditions on dowry day. Ps this is just one of the many ways this is done depending on the specific cultures.

**[The following comment was written in response to a commenter's statement that in Africa the bride's family sometimes gives a dowry to the groom's family]

10. Dorcas Lukoye
"Weh my dear...there is nothing that comes from the girls side not even food at least not in Kenyan weddings..its the guy's mom and aunties who bring food stuff to the girls home.Infact even the food being eaten in most cases its the man who gives his girl money for all the preparations way before the function.The girl's family only foots this cost at their own will...not mandatory...or top up on what the man had given...the girl's parents mainly pay the food items the man and his close relatives should eat traditionally from the girl's mother's pot.e.g in Luhya tradition,its several whole roasted chicken per person,kienyeji vegetables and brown traditional ugali.The other fancy modern meals the man gives the girl enough money as per the girl's family intended budget for the girl to buy and prepare in advance.

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11. Nicole Dinga
"They danced that jam with Obama and taught him how to dance that style lol"

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12. Clement Gitonga
"This is the song Obama danced to with Sauti Sol when he was in the 254"
-snip-
"254" is the country code (international telephone code) for Kenya, East Africa. President Obama's father was from Kenya.

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfPiDKKsDNA for a video of former United States President Barack Obama dancing the lipala dance with Sauti Sol during his visit to Kenya in July 2015.

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13. Nicholas Joseph
"Can't tell you enough how much of a treat it is to have Mama Dee on this channel reacting with you! Your reactions alone are quite s treat but having Mama Dee on is the icing on the cake!! Also a pleasant treat that Mama Dee knows her African roots too coz she was dead on with how she explained the wealth thing! True African Queen!!! I want to take y'all for a trip all the way to South Africa & kindly request you to react to "KHONA" by Mafikizolo"

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14. Eve
"It's a dowry payment ceremony. That first pick that he messed up, he had to pay a fine. The dowry is the cows and all that were being counted. And yes, it is not the ceremony. The actual wedding comes later." 

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15. Giggie Njeri
"Nothing like slow songs in an African wedding or dowry payment ceremony.. we have come to eat and to dance till morning."

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16. Eric Muringa
"My friend almost gave me a heart attack...he couldn't find the gal in the group of girls. I just stood and shouted ",you mess up we ajnt coming back here again to pay the penalty" usually the other girls are the sisters and cousins, it is almost impossible to tell them apart when they are covered.

It was hilarious and for real the gal wasn't among the cast till the next round. Too much fun in these functions."
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REPLY
17. Mommadeedee That_Fire_LA
"Eric Muringa wow😂😂😂❤️"
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18. Rawnsley Chege"
"Momma Dee is wise, Usually the brides father parades all his daughters or some other girls, cover them  up and the groom is supposed to identify his bride, he is fined for every mistake he makes. its interesting. in my tribe this ceremony is called 'ruracio' or dowry payment"

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REPLY
19. Debbie Mumbi
"Yesss, and it's not an arranged marriage ...the guy has dated the chiq before but for the family to know you know which of their daughters you want to marry..."

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REPLY
20. Ruby Ring
"Rawnsley Chege same in Tanzania!!"
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21. Njeri M
"It's a Kenyan tradition, during the dowry ceremony, for the man to pick out his girl. Usually, a number of young women, all covered up  in the traditional "lesso/khanga" , line up in front of everyone and the guy has to pick his girl. If he picks the wrong girl, he gets penalized. He has to do it until he picks the right one."

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22. Victor Ngigi
"African weddings are anything but "slow".

This song captures the general vibe at Kenyan weddings."

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23. Evad trent
"Mama Dee got it right. He's supposed to identify his bride and he goofed so he's penalized by giving an offering that the bride's side decides prior to the ceremony."

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24. Wangari Kenyan
"You have to uncover the right girl's face. If you don't you'll get fined by her family. The ceremonies are always LIT. In Afrika the guy's family pays dowry."

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25. maNcube
"Oohh wow. I'm glad your marriage meetings are similar. My cousin sent her then boyfriend a text telling him what blanket she would be under. The family was charging like crazy. Eg our family put water on the table, the in-laws started pouring water before it was offered to them. And they were charged for it. Its hilarious  now, but it wasn't then."

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26. Okello Daniel Okwaput
"this is basically a traditional wedding before the civil or church

so the man's family travels to collect the bride from her family

well the tradition is that you tell your bride from her feet that's why the girls who came out had no shoes on

then he was fined the first time, though of late its kinda more like fun not to get the first pick so you can gift more

the part where they were counting cows is basically the cows the man's family has to pay as brideprice

this process is quite different in most places but they represented the Kenyan way more and I believe the Swahili coastal culture in particular.”…

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27. Wairimu
"He choose the wrong one. So he was fined. Got off easy. Could have been two or three goats!"

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28. Dorcas Lukoye
"That dance is called Lipala a Luhya  tribal dance very popular in Kenya in weddings and graduation celebrations.He is yet to wed just proposed to his Nigerian bae a few weeks ago.In African tradition..more so Kenyan or Luhya which is the tribe all the band members come from ..the man is the one who pays dowry...lots of cows mainly..not small animals like goats and the like..and the goat given is to appease the girls family for failing to pick her out the first time..its called a fine...soany fines are handed toen during these functions for so many reasons ranging from lateness or even stubborness of the girls relatives especially uncle and aunties..the man has to pay off everything just to get it over and done with or risk having to come back again.

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29. frank Rass
"That tradition is long gone now we follow western world..but mama d is correct though..."

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REPLY
30. Vanessa Rukorio
"frank Rass

I disagree, but I guess it depends on the tribe because every single kikuyu wedding I've attended this tradition has been practised during the ruracio (traditional ceremony)."

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REPLY
31. Oganga Khadudu
"Speak for yourself. We still practice that"

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32. Nicole Domtilla
"The dowry is given as  compensation for the contribution and work the girl would have done since she left her home and came to yours."

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33. Michael Kiptoo Mwaniki
"A lot of times the bride will agree with the groom beforehand to have her toes painted a specific color so he can “guess” correctly 😂"

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34. maria muthoki
"Its dowry payment peeps, all the cows are for the girl's family, and the sheep is for the fine because he picked the wrong girl. dowry is great for the families to meet. P.s Bien broke all our hearts and got engaged  last week, to his long time girlfriend, hes my fave songwriter."
-snip-
"Peeps" is an African American originated term for "people".  "Bien" is the Sauti Sol singer who wore a white suit (and played the part of the groom) in that Sauti Sol video. Notice in the pancocojams post entitled Five Video Examples Of Kenyan Ruracios (pre-wedding customs)  https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/08/five-video-examples-of-kenyan-ruracios.html and in other YouTube videos of ruracios l that most of the brides and grooms to be wear a certain earth tone of brown or that brown with white.

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35.  Annabelle Olum
"In Kenya when the man is going to meet his future in- laws, it is a big deal. He goes with his uncles and a few close friends/male relatives of his age group. It is a very serious occasion! They come bearing gifts for the family then they have dowry discussions"

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