I am not on TikTok, but I am on Instagram waaaay too much. I think the way it works is people do/record “TikToks” and then they post them to Instgram or others do, somehow I do end up watching things that were first on TikTok. All this to say that the trend might have started on TikTok but I have seen it on Instagram. You may be familiar with reels that are videos with a snippet of a song playing. Well, if you have been on Instagram at all I am betting you have heard “Makeba”.
“Makeba, Makeba, me que bella. Can I get a “ooh-ee”?” . . . . yeah, that is what it says I had to look it up because I have this tune on repeat in my head and I had no idea what it was. Some sites say “me que bella” and some sites say “me che bella”. The singer-songwriter is French.
“Makeba” was released in 2015, yes I am just hearing it 8 years later. It is a very catchy tune, one that gets stuck in your head. And the catchy part is actually said over and over so that makes it even more catchy.
It is about “Mama Africa” a woman who was born in Africa in 1932 and died in 2008, Miriam Makeba. Who, Britannica.com claims to be “one of the world’s most prominent Black African performers in the 20th century.” And Wiki says that she “was among the first African musicians to receive worldwide recognition. She brought African music to a Western audience, and popularized the world music and Afropop genres.” She was a civil rights activist and that is what Jain is saying in the song. It is such a catchy tune.
Do you know it?
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