K.O, Runtown perfect collaborative fad with Call Me

It’s a known fact that music creates bonds; no matter who the artists are or where they come from, they listen to and learn from each other’s song. The limitations are gone! Thanks to technology, musicians can make music anywhere and at any time – programme the beat track in Tanzania, lay down the bassline in South Africa and record the vocals Nigeria.

South African hip hop artist K.O and Nigerian singer Runtown now join the long list of African collaborations with ‘Call Me’, a song off the former’s album SR2. The song landed the top spot on the South African iTunes hip hop charts and No 2 on the ranking’s main charts on 23 November, the day of its release.

‘Call Me’ is a romantic, melodious and mellow song that narrates a couple facing relationship issues. Shot by Gorilla Films in downtown Johannesburg, Newtown and Turffontien, the colourful new video begin with a frustrated woman whose husband (K.O) turns down a chance to meet her parents. The atmosphere suddenly turns gloomy when she parades her displeasure by hanging up and switching off her phone.

Since she can’t be reached on the phone, K.O breaks into singing, earnestly begging his partner to call him. He then begs her: “Call me, call me, call me, call me / The sound of your voice sound right now would make a difference.”

Runtown adds flavour

Coupled with harmonious help from Runtown and an R&B feel, K.O uses his gusto to send a message to his lady through his authoritative love lyrics. The world is nothing without her, she is his alpha and omega and he affirms that no man can love her more than him.

“You're the one that I miss / Akekho omunye (nobody) / Who would love you like this /Akekho omunye (nobody).”

Runtown echoes K.O.’s lyrics but in an apologetic manner. He exudes a confident melody that gets stuck in your head; it’s also reminiscent of South African rapper YoungstaCPT’s commanding rap delivery.

The recurring theme of forgiveness through Runtown’s verse parts – “call me, call me” – is also shown in the lyrics, “I been calling your phone all day / Baby girl I swear I'm sorry for all the things I said to you.”

Runtown’s phrasing in a Nigerian accent adds a more cheerful and brighter vibe to the song. The tones and vibrations of different phones accompanied by a faint, blurry and indistinct melody are repeatedly heard in the background. The sounds concurringly synch with the constant trap bass throughout the song. When K.O joins the verses, the song becomes more upbeat, but Runtown’s additions to the verses add quality and help the song achieve its purpose, which is partly about coherence and flow from the two collaborating artists.

Storyline vs visual effects

The visual effects used in the video complement the storyline. Notice how the producers use day and night scenes to describe the varying mood of the altercation. In the night scene, K.O is clad in black while Runtown is wearing a purple-hued shirt and black pants. Feelings about colour are often deeply personal and rooted in one’s own experience or culture, but in this context, black creates a perception of seriousness.

While perceptions of colour are somewhat subjective, most African cultures associate black with lack of hope; the absence of light resembles misery and discontent. In this sense, the two scenes are used to signal contrast in mood. As such, the visual effects used in the video manage to compliment a storyline about conflict amid deep love.

In the end, the dark effects save their purpose. While driving at night, the resentful woman decides to answer the phone and by doing so crashes her car in a scene that reminds one of Justin Timberlake’s ‘What Goes Around…Comes Around'. It’s a lovers’ quarrel that ends in pain.

The video ends tragically with a shaken K.O running in the corridors of a hospital illuminated by a UV light. He ends up in the operating theatre where he finds his lover motionless. Unless you’ve read an interview with K.O about the video, you’d assume she’s dead because the life-support machines surrounding her seem to be turned off. It’s pretty clear that there was a directorial lapse here.

“I chose to have the story dark because it formed part of the message I was sharing,” he said. “It’s a wake-up call to both of them. He has to put her first and she has a right to be mad at him, but she need not lose sight of other things because as you will see, that almost costs her life.”

Artist: K.O. ft Runtown
Song: 'Call Me'
Year: 2017