The group that sang ‘Zangalewa’ used to be called Golden Sounds but the song became so popular that the group changed its name to Zangalewa.

It crossed the borders of Cameroon because surely the chorus sounds very familiar and some Ghanaian, Kenyan and SouthAfrican artistes may have even sampled the song. Lamine Toure a Senegalese even sang a Senegalese version during one of their performances.  

The Zangelewa song has a very ‘jamaa/brotherhood’ like feel. It is widely seen as one of those encouragement songs that people engage in when they are doing sports in high school.

The song has over time proved that Africans are more or less the same people. During the soon to be concluded FIFA World Cup in SouthAfrica, the song has been a source of inspiration to the African players and has brought a sense of brotherhood to the Africans that have managed to grace the occasion. 

Shakira who is a Colombian sampled this famous song for her hit song ‘Time for Africa’ which is the official song for the World Cup. Time for Africa in Spanish is Esto es Africa.

 Lyrics for Shakira’s Saminamina

Llego el momento, caen las murallas
Va a comenzar la unica justa de la batallas
No duele el golpe, no existe el miedo
Quitate el polvo, ponte de pie y vuelves al ruedo
Y la presion que sientes
Espera en ti, tu gente!
Ahora vamos por todo
y te acompaña la suerte
Samina mina sam ¡aleguah!
Porque esto es Africa
Samina mina ¡eh! ¡eh!
Waka Waka ¡eh! ¡eh!
Samina mina sam ¡aleguah!
Porque esto es Africa
Oye a tu dios
y no estaras solo
llegas aqui para brillar
lo tienes todo
la hora se acerca
es el momento
Vas a ganar cada batalla
ya lo presiento
Hay que empezar de cero
para tocar el cielo
Ahora vamos por todo
Y todos vamos por ellos
Samina mina sam ¡aleguah!
Porque esto es Africa

Ends