Tanzanian bongo flava artist Ali Kiba (also known as Ally Kiba) has previously introduced new names and terms into popular culture – think ‘Cinderella’, his biggest hit to date, and even ‘Nakshi mrembo’. Swahili is a living language: musicians have contributed quite a list to its modern vocabulary, and local hip hop and bongo flava have played their parts. An example: ‘Mtoto wa geti kali’, a song by rap group Gangwe Mobb: its title refers to the ‘girl of the sharp fence’, in other words a girl from rich parents who was hard to get for a boy from Gangwe Mobb’s working class neighbourhood. And in the 90s the word ‘paparazzi’ referring to an eavesdropper was borrowed from Xzibit’s 1996 hit by that name. From the looks and sound of it, Ali’s latest single and video ‘Dushelele’ are set to enrich Swahili with yet another expression.

However, at the time of writing, nobody could really explain us what it means – is it a girl’s name? Swahili speakers may find a clue in the lyrics which are also included as subtitles in the video (and if you know the meaning, share the info with us via the This Is Africa Facebook page). Musically Ali is also entering new territory – steering away from the ‘prefab’ bongo flava sound, incorporating the influences of Congolese and Tanzanian coastal music. And if there’s a remix without the use of autotune we’d buy that too!