Tsaminamina zangalewa

Shakira, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”

With this shining performance, Shakira kicks off the biggest party in the world, the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Amid the controversy of FIFA’s choice to have a non-African as the official musical voice of the World Cup, Shakira shatters all national divisions and musical expectations and leads the world into its premier athletic event. The song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” is a collection of African rhythms and sounds whose words are propelled atop drum beats for which African music is known worldwide. She sings “Tsaminamina,”inviting all citizens of the world and lovers of soccer to come, gather, and celebrate. She sings “Tsaminamina zangalewa,” asking the people of the world where they come from, for at this gathering of 32 nations to compete for the title of the best in the world’s most popular sport, we see and hear a human race divided among each other by nations but united in a love for soccer.

Even as the World Cup is now in full swing, the song weighs heavily in the aforementioned debate about this song’s place as the event’s official song. Critics against the decision will cite many reasons decrying it. Some will point to the trite nature of the lyrics. Amos Barshad of New York Magazine calls it “a perfectly innocuous bit of inspiration pop.” To this statement I respond that World Cup songs are typically inspirational and meant to pump up players and audiences alike. Others will say that the song is a poor excuse for a representation of African or world music. They describe it as sounding like any other Western pop song markedly embellished with African drum beats and passed off as something multicultural. To these people I ask, what about Ricky Martin’s “The Cup of Life” made it distinctively French or world music? (See what Eleanor Barkhorn has to say). Yes, included some French in the song, repeating the line “Ale, ale, ale” during the chorus. And yes, the song was recorded both in English and Spanish. But Shakira did the same and more! At least the whole chorus of “Waka Waka” is borrowed from the original 1986 version of the song “Zangalewa” by the Cameroonian group Golden Sounds. If there’s any complaint to be had over “Waka Waka” it’s that Shakira isn’t South African. But let’s be honest, when has the singer of the official World Cup song ever been from the host country? At least Shakira is a Colombian of Lebanese descent who sings in Spanish and English. Seems pretty multicultural to me…

It took me a while to like “Waka Waka.” I probably would have made some of the same arguments that critics continue to make. Still, we cannot deny the song’s undeniable power to unite the world through an inherently human medium—music. Shakira’s performance of the song at the Opening Ceremonies on June 10 was overshadowed by the vibrant display of colorful lights and the throng of people dancing and singing on stage with her. Ultimately, the song is a testament to what the World Cup is at its core—a gathering of the world’s people in celebration, song, and sport.

(“Tsaminamina zangalewa” is part 1 of the series Sounds like the World Cup).