Kakajan in full flow. Shared on Vkontakte.
Apple's iPhone has just earned a plug from an unexpected source: a pop star in isolated Turkmenistan.
Global Voices recently noted [1] how the government is reportedly cracking down on smartphone usage as a video of schoolgirls thrashing around to the Far East Movement's Turn Up the Love continues to get thousands of hits on YouTube.
But they cannot get rid of them completely.
Kakajan Rejepov has recorded an original music video destined to be a hit in Turkmenistan called ‘iPhone’, dedicated to the most popular cellphone model in the country.
According to one commenter [2] on the Russian social network Vkontakte, the song makes you burn to buy an iPhone.
я срочно должен купить I Phone 6 Белый, обязательно белый=)
I must immediately buy an I Phone 6 White, white without doubt =)
The song's lyrics are as unsophisticated as the beat is hypnotic, a catchy combination:
Ай фон белый подключаю
Рингтон клевый – не скучаю
3G ловит, я онлайн
Любовь моя, тебя скачаю
Держу крепче, не роняю
На вес легкий мой мобайл
Ай фон белый выручает
Снимает селфи абонент
Комент оставляй
Обновляй профайл
Ставь под фото лайк
Это каре стайл
Твой ай ди забит
Из пустых страниц
На моей кипит жизнь, будто в час пик
Ты меня в сети не ищи, я их тех, кто вечно у пути
Такси, самолеты, такси
И так протекают все дни
Куда бы меня не вели,
Ай фон это мой проводник
Давай достань мобайл,
Нажми на плей
И С-Е-Л-Ф-И
Turn on the white iPhone
A cool ringtone won’t let me be bored
It catches 3G and I’m online
I will download you, my love
Hold it tight and don’t drop it
My mobile doesn’t weigh much
My white iPhone does me favours
The user makes a selfie
Leave a comment
Update your profile
Put a like under the photo
This is Kara-style
Your ID is polluted
By empty pages
And mine is full like in rush hour
Don’t search for me on the networks, I always travel
Taxi, planes, taxi
This is how my days go
Wherever I go
iPhone is my guide
So take your mobile out
Push play
And S-E-L-F-I-E.
Kakajan has his own VKontakte page [3] where a lively discussion of the new video is underway.
Gundogar Turkmen wrote:
Bratan [bro] keep doing it like this
Какаджан молодец! Супер! Такого еще никто не делал! Клип бэт! А музыка и текст как всегда шикарные!
Kakajan you are great! Super! Nobody has ever done anything like this! The video is cool! The music and the text are great as always!
Asadbek Ibragimov:
Luchshiy iz luchshih
You are the best of the best
Всем очень благодарен ваши комментарии вдохновляют друзья
Thank you everyone. Friends, your comments inspire me.
Photo from official VK page of Kakajan Rejepov.
Similarly to other Turkmen performers, about whom GV has written [4] in the past, Kakajan's songs focus on apolitical topics such as love and life for young people in the capital Ashgabat.
Although he is not one of the mainstream “ethno-pop” [5]performers promoted by the government due to videos like this one, [6] he is still one of the country's most popular artists.
Another video on YouTube shows Kakajan performing at the recently opened Berkarar trade centre, a popular recreation zone for Turkmen youth, although his performance probably deserved [7] a more lively audience.
If Kakajan got you into Turkmen pop, check out more [8]of his videos.