By Dennis Asiimwe
Sometimes, everything comes together perfectly for an artiste on a track. Mpita Njia was the sort of song that was simply made for Juliana, and is probably my favourite Juliana song. First things first, the choice of Alicios for this collaboration was inspired.
Alicios Theluji is Congolese. Congo has that happy habit of producing and finessing musicians in a way few countries do, possibly because music is assumed to be inevitable in this particular country.
Juliana is not the greatest of collaborators, especially around other girls, but you could see with the concessions she made that she was comfortable with this partnership. Alicios has a very similar voice to Juliana, technically speaking, but she stands apart distinctly because she simply has a different musical upbringing.
Mpita Njia does not feel contrived, and a lot of this is due to its theme, which feels as organic as it gets. It is also possibly one of Juliana’s more technically complete songs, because of the amount of thought and planning that goes into it
Alicios is probably more musically accomplished in terms of international accomplishments, so there was probably a grudging respect.
However, Juliana’s voice, while being distinctly similar to Alicios’, is significantly superior. The song’s melodic structure was built for Juliana; those vocal dips that she does so well simply seemed custom-made for her.
Developed as a Zouk song, the song is obviously structured, and the bridge alone is a melodic delight, even overshadowing the song’s hook. The other thing that stands out for me are the harmonies, which are voiced gorgeously, mostly by Juliana. She stamps this song with her signature vocals, and Alicios is gracious enough to stand back.
The song’s theme is based on conflict: Juliana and Alicios’ persona’s fighting over a man. It makes for an intriguing theme, and carries the song pretty well, especially the lyrical direction.
Mpita Njia does not feel contrived, and a lot of this is due to its theme, which feels as organic as it gets. It is also possibly one of Juliana’s more technically complete songs, because of the amount of thought and planning that goes into it.
