Tekno – Pana – Once in a year, the artiste known as Tekno makes an inescapable hit, one that starts out innocuous, then blows up thanks to sheer word of mouth and multiple spins at clubs and street parties alike.
Last year was the silly, mischievous but endlessly rewarding Duro. On Duro, Tekno spewed forth head-scratching lyrics like, Your beauty making me to realise/say NEPA no bring light on his way to topping every singles chart that mattered.
This year, he updates his oeuvre with Pana, another silly, mischievous but endlessly rewarding anthem marked with head-scratching moments like Folake give me love oh/Na you dey catch my shot.
Truth be told, no one comes to Tekno, the lovable lad with the thick Igbo brogue who sings and dances with infectious cheer, for the sublime song writing or highbrow composition of his music.
On the contrary, Tekno gets all the love because his music is unpretentious, easy to dance to and is targeted at the lowest common denominator. The cheesy, sing along nature of his ditties may mask the fact that Tekno (real name, Augustine Miles Kelechi) is one of music’s hardest workers.
Following the smash success of Duro, the Made Men Music Group performing artiste and producer, continued to throw out follow up singles with varying degrees of success. While some like Wash, generated considerable buzz, it is the slinky, sexy Pana that is sure to return him to the top of the charts and place his name once again on everybody’s lips.
Produced by KrizBeatz, Pana begins deceptively similar to Iyanya’s 2014 MMG hit, Mr Oreo but diverges soon after, as the lyric structure does its best to mask the similarities. Pana solidifies and builds up its own catchy milieu where mellow is the new massive and is considered capable enough to kick start the dance floor craze.
The battle for today’s hit single is won by the beat and Pana’s beat is a delicious if unoriginal blend of drums, snares and whatever is working right now in the business. Tekno and his producer get it right though and manage to seduce hardened cynics into believing in their movement for the record’s 4 minute spell.
The video directed by Clarence Peters (he of the Xeroxing tendencies and unfocused overkill,) is quite another matter entirely. Instead of letting the song free to soar and attempting to meet it somewhere above ground, Clarence Peters and his big moneyed imagination trap it in a no-sense video of copycat Asian theatrics and stereotypes.
From the beginning where Tekno takes a bow and makes a funny caricature of a fight move, the ridiculousness of the accompanying music video takes form and does not quite let up, past the strange choice of cinematography that favours dark shadows and plenty colours, past the writing on the wall and the mismatched coupling of Tekno and his writhing vixen, and even past the clumsy but endearing dance moves.
Pana, the video does not elevate the song but it is also hard to argue that it diminishes it either. Clarence Peters is the biggest culprit as he constantly gets in everyone’s way and bleaches the video of all the fun to be had, thanks to his ill-fated attempt at making some kind of deeper statement.
Still, in keeping with the theme of the source material, and Tekno’s music career so far, Pana did get the video it deserves. Sort of. The vixen is pretty, she touches herself, lets Tekno touch her, costumes are alive and the deployment of colour is fun to watch. Tekno is eminently watchable and his efforts at dancing alone are worth the price of admission. It’s all very safe and capable. Expecting more may have been the very first mistake. This is the guy who brought you Duro after all.