Line #101 Main/AfricanChant


1	->''"Whaaaaaat's on the menuuuuuu? It could beeeeeee ceviiiiiiiiiche. Iiiiiiit's stinkyyyyyyy. Oooooooh it's Pumbaaaaaaa ..."''
2	-->-- '''Timon''', making up the possible lyrics for ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' opening, ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf''
3
4	The unknown depths of the jungle are shown. The film cuts to a quieter scene, the JungleDrums beat, and some random African chant comes from the music. While sometimes the chant may be real, most of the time it's just [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign random phrases of Swahili or Zulu in order for it to mean]] ''[[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign something]]''. The go-to-guy for genuine African chants is [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0530799/reference Lebo M.]]
5
6	Compare OminousLatinChanting and OneWomanWail. May appear during a LionKingLift.
7	----
8	!!Examples:
9
10	[[foldercontrol]]
11
12	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
13	* ''Franchise/TheLionKing'':
14	** [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 The original]]:
15	*** The famous opening sunrise is possibly the TropeMaker for more modern examples. It does sound better than most other examples listed, as it was written in an authentic mix of Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, and Sotho.
16	---->''Nants' ingonyama bagaithi baba!''\
17	''Sithi hum, ingonyama!''\
18	''Siyo nqoba!''\
19	''Ingonyama nengw' enamabala''\
20	''Ingonyama nengw' enamabala''\
21	''Ingonyama nengw' enamabala''\
22	''Ingonyama nengw' enamabala''\
23	''Sitho kwaa''
24	*** Rafiki's chant while taunting Simba -- ''Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu mi mi hapana'' -- is also a real Swahili phrase. It means, "Thank you very much, [mister] squashed banana! You are a baboon, and I am not!"
25	** The trope is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the POVSequel ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf'', as quoted above.
26	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRUcijyTvRs "Courtship"]] and its DarkReprise, "Breakout/It Comes With a Pool", from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}''.
27	* ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'': As the zoo animals arrive to the watering hole and meet various members of their own species, the wild animals are partying to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULDwKgNwcV8 an African chant]]. The animals perform [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGBFsNLCmYI another chant]] in the third act [[spoiler:as they are about to sacrifice Melman in a volcano]].
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
31	* ''Film/District9'' has this in a few scenes.
32	* James Cameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/AvatarTheWayOfWater'' has some Na'vi chants meant to invoke this trope, with the addition of Pacific islander chants-sounding music for the seashore-dwelling Na'vi in the latter.
33	* ''Film/{{Black Panther\|2018}}'' has a specific theme for the Dahomey Amazons-inspired Dora Milaje warriors. Composed by Music/LudwigGoransson, it consists of a group of Senegalese women 'yipping', which director Creator/RyanCoogler described as a "chu chu" sound. It's reprised in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier''.
34	* ''Film/TheConstantGardener'' uses the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48PCisRZ7s "Kothbiro,"]] over natural scenes at Lake Turkana, to establish the setting.
35	* The entire score to the film adaptation of ''Literature/ThePowerOfOne'' (co-written as it was by future ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Lion King]]'' lyricist Lebo M.), though of particular note are:
36	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvC1LxBF2OQ Mother Africa]]"
37	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZNp6AFBKdg The ending reprise]], which also includes an ''epic'' rendition of the Xhosa hymn "[[https://www.nglyrics.com/bawo-thixo-somandla-father-god-almighty-lyrics-by-cape-town-youth-choir.html Bawo Thixo Somandla]]".
38	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFp_puk7cRs The Rainmaker]]"[[note]]Perhaps fittingly, a snippet of this track was used as the temp music for Simba's ascension and Kiara's birth in the ''Lion King'' storyreel, before culminating in an instrumental reprise of "Circle of Life."[[/note]]
39	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXEWYP7TwqA Southland Concerto]]", in which the native Africans StealthInsult their [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier oblivious white audience]].
40	** Interestingly, several tracks from this film (including some of those listed above) were featured in the 1994 Creator/{{IMAX}} [[NatureDocumentary nature film]] ''Africa: The Serengeti''.
41	* In Film/ASongIsBorn, Professor Frisbee teaches a "Polynesian love chant" to his foundation's benefactor, complete with nonsense words, a silly dance and JungleDrums.
42	* In the film ''Film/{{Zulu}}'', the Zulu warriors sing a praise song lauding the British defenders as {{Worthy Opponent}}s before beginning their final assault.
43	* ''Film/RoadToZanzibar'' has a bit of chanting titled "African Etude".
44	* Several are included in the score to ''Film/WhispersAnElephantsTale'', with a particularly glorious one (which crops up frequently throughout, serving as the main theme) featured at the opening.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
48	* The TropeNamer is from the U.S. version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', which had a game called "African Chant". It involved Creator/WayneBrady singing to an audience member in the style of an African Chant, but the real comedy comes from the three other comedians singing and dancing in the background. When Brady was told the name of the game, "African Chant", he (understandably) did not react too well, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere initially pretending to walk away before sitting again]].
49	-->'''Wayne Brady:''' Hey, how come I gotta do the African Chant?\
50	'''Creator/DrewCarey:''' Because Colin would screw it up.
51	* ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' TV series has this on occasion, with lyrics in authentic Setswana.
52	* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
53	** Sally Cruikshank produced a series of animated inserts for the series involving counting up to a certain number, with the highest being 19 and the lowest being 13 (according to Muppet Wiki, there is no animation for 20).
54	** Another animated ''Sesame Street'' skit involving counting to a certain number had number emerge out of seashells while a chant sounding like "Bading-a-ding bada-bading-a-ding" can be heard in the background.
55	** Two alphabet songs from the same show are even sung to African tribal music.
56	* "Mystery Animal" from ''{{Series/Zoboomafoo}}'' (sung over an animation where a cartoon blob is shown morphing into the animal featured in the episode).
57	* Reasonably enough, the opening and closing episodes of ''Series/Roots1977'' had African songs, mostly sung by Maya Angelou (who also appeared as the elder Nyo Boto in the first episode).
58	* In the ''Series/TopGearUK'' two-part Africa special, the customary theme from The A-Team was punched up with African chanting.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Music]]
62	* "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has a horribly convoluted history, but it was originally a Zulu folk song titled "Mbube."
63	* Music/PeterGabriel takes this and makes it his favorite instrument, often using contributions from actual Africans. For instance, [[Music/{{Melt}} "Biko"]] opens and closes with samples of protest chants from the titular activist's funeral, while [[Music/{{So}} "In Your Eyes"]] features Wolof-language guest vocals from Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour.
64	* The Christian song ''Siyahamba'', often translated in English as "We are Marching in the light of God".
65	* Music/{{Shakira}}'s "Waka Waka". Justified, as it was the main theme for UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup in Africa, and the song's subtitle is even (This Time for Africa).
66	* Zulu chanting pervades Music/PaulSimon's ''Music/{{Graceland}}'', mainly "[[UptownGirl Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes]]", "[[HollywoodMidLifeCrisis You Can Call Me Al"]], and "Homeless", which consists almost ''entirely'' of this. {{Justified\|Trope}} in that Ladysmith Black Mambazo -- one of South Africa's greatest musical groups -- contributed to the album.
67	* Music/LionelRichie gives us ''All Night Long.''
68	* The Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" uses an African-sounding chant over the chorus.
69	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeNU600stLA The Afro-Celt Sound System]] blends this with traditional Irish song, mixed with electronic sounds and a variety of dance rhythms. (Guest vocals by Sinead O'Connor on that track.)
70	* Typical for the {{Afrobeat}} genre too. Musicians like Music/FelaKuti and Music/BabatundeOlatunji, best known for ''Music/DrumsOfPassion'', make frequent use of background singers to accompany their epic jams.
71	* ''Music/{{Eskimo}}'' by Music/TheResidents. Except instead of African Chanting, ''it's (fake) Inuk chanting.''
72	* African-sounding vocals pervade singer/songwriter Erutan's 2013 single, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHrqu_bsjtw Across the Sunlands"]].
73	* Music/JohnnyClegg's "Asimbonanga" (with a number of Zulu lyrics) is sometimes used in media to this effect, to say nothing of its covers and remixes by non-South African musicians.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Theatre]]
77	* ''Theatre/{{Showboat}}'': The Dahomey dancers in the 1893 World's Fair sequence frighten off white visitors with their frenzied chanting and barbaric manners, then reveal it's a load of BigApplesauce -- "our home just ain't Dahomey at all" but New York.
78	* Parodied in ''Theatre/TheBookOfMormon'', where the phrase being chanted by the Ugandans in their first song, "Hasa Diga Eebowai," is revealed to mean, "Fuck you, God."
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'':
83	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0kkzHGa-gY Baba Yetu]]," from ''Civilization 4'', is just a Swahili rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" -- but a truly epic one, worthy of being the soundtrack to a whole history of, erm, civilization.
84	** The Zulu from the sequel ''Civilization 5'' also have one (technically two) as their theme song.
85	** Once again, the Zulu in ''Civilization 6'' have one. It's actually a medley of several real life Zulu folk songs.
86	* A set of samples called “African Mist” are used in the Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} soundtracks, specifically for Monokuma’s {{Leitmotif}}, and the tracks played for [[CruelAndUnusualDeath the executions]].
87	* The music theme of the level Grassland Groove in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' displays this trope. Notably, the song doesn't loop like a normal theme would do, but instead changes gradually as the player progresses in the level. When the exit is displayed, the music ends with an epic chant of Donkey Kong's name.
88	* Main theme for ''VideoGame/FarCry2'', sung by Senegalese singer Baaba Maal.
89	* The [[MacroZone Magnor]] forest levels of ''VideoGame/SeriousSamII'' (and some of the levels in [[JungleJapes M'Digbo]]) feature action music with these stock sounds.
90	* The Adventure Field's Mystic Ruins in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', and Mazuri in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''.
91	* ''VideoGame/Shivers1995'': Happens in the BackgroundMusic while in the Shaman room.
92	* The aforementioned Afro-Celt Sound System also did the music for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ooE_kJ2aQ Magic & Mayhem]].
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Web Original]]
96	* Creator/DougWalker [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ejMFvssoSI#t=32m33s sometimes]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyQwP-32I9U#t=9m35s brings up]] how much he dislikes this trope in his reviews whenever it's used to accompany scenes of death and devastation (more specifically, the times when it's combined with OneWomanWail).
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Western Animation]]
100	* ''WesternAnimation/AnimatedTalesOfTheWorld'': Features all throughout the underscore of "How Tortoise Won Respect," including the Zulu- or Xhosa-language song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBaRcNjk5zc "Fudukazi Uzokumangaza"]], which is first heard in the background in the beginning, and is sung again over the end credits.
101	** There is also the Mossi[[note]]or perhaps Fula, since the story is apparently set on the edge of the Sahel, in the north of Burkina Faso[[/note]] singing over the opening and closing of "The Tyrant and the Child."
102	* The Zulu musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo provided the soundtrack to Creator/RabbitEarsProductions' [[https://archive.org/details/howtheleopardgothisspots animated adaptation]] of [[Literature/JustSoStories "How the Leopard Got His Spots"]].
103	* Zecora the zebra from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', speaks and chants African-esque sounds which freaks all the ponies of Ponyville out and they assume she's evil. WordOfGod is that they wanted her to be speaking authentic Swahili in ''Bridle Gossip'', but they didn't have the time or resources. Instead, they got the voice actor to make up some African-sounding gibberish. [[http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/9/91/Swahili.png Lauren Faust said that she likes to imagine Zecora is speaking Zebra in lieu of Swahili.]]
104	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' parody of ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' has this:
105	--> Ahhh la wain-ya! Ee-malla ee ya away!\
106	Oom balla ee ya walla ling goo\
107	Ee oola coola yalla din doo\
108	Oo day loo ee-a totta malla\
109	I no ees joost a lota walla
110	%%* "Circle of Poo" from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Girls Just Want To Have Sums", the musical ''Stabalot: The Itchy & Scratchy Musical'' featured background chants sounding like "Itchy Scratchy, Itchy Itchy Scratchy..."
112	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' has its own ''Lion King'' parody, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FNvuZF27lRI#t=229s The Cockroach King]]'', starring Creator/HowardStern.
113	[[/folder]]
114

Context Main / AfricanChant