Lyrics to Rewrite of Waka Waka
[Intro]
Ooeh
[Verse 1]
They were good soldiers
They lost the battle
They came and took them
Took them afar
Far from their village
[Verse 2]
No one’s at home now
Everyone's starving
It’s getting serious
Who’s going to grow food
It seems like it’s over
[Bridge]
The slave trade is on
We feel it
Our freedom is gone
Believe it
[Verse 3]
We gave them our gold, gold
And they gave us their hard chains,
Tsamina mina zangalewa
It happened in Africa
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
What do we do now?
[Verse 4]
Listen to their guns
We are all at war now
We’re divided
They colonized
Now they are in control
[Verse 5]
Now it’s all we know
Slaves are currency
New economy
Changing our culture
Corn and cassava
[Verse 6]
Yesterday has gone away
Africa feels it
Slavery paved the way
Believe it
[Verse 7]
If we get down we get up, oh
When we get down we get up, eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
It’ll get better
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa a a
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa
[Verse 8: [Zolani sings]
Ame la mejole biggi biggi mubbo wa ET to
Zet
Asi tsu zala makyuni biggi biggi mubbo
from East to West
Asi waga waga ma eh eh waga waga ma eh eh
Zania zizwe mazi buye
cuz this is africa
[Bridge: Voice]
Tsamina mina, Anawa a a
Tsamina mina
Tsamina mina, Anawa a a
[Verse 9]
Tsamina m
Ina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa a a
Tsamina mina, eh eh
Waka waka, eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa
[Verse 10][2x]
Django eh eh [2x]
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa a a
[Outro][2x]
This time for Africa
[2x]
We're all Africa
The impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the African continent was drastic. Once a thriving and growing society, Africa was left with a deteriorating economy. Agriculture was such a significant part of the economy for African countries that the lack of available workforce was severely draining. Some sources say that 30 to 60 percent of the entire population was enslaved (Reader, 291). Intensive agricultural labor was left to those remaining.
Along with the slave trade, outside influence also brought guns and gunpowder to the country. This escalated war in areas and made it easier for slaves to be captured and shipped from their homeland. It was also much easier for European powers to establish civilizations in Africa which contributed to a change in culture and the stunted economic growth. When the desirability of African slaves was discovered, so were the abundant natural resources of the continent. These resources were exotic to exporters and became popular in overseas countries. Examples of resources include crops such as plantains and yams as well as items like ivory, beeswax, gum Arabic,dyes gold and timber.
The slave trade also commercialized local indigenous economies creating a demand for imported goods. The goods that were commonly imported were textiles, metal goods, cloth, copper, iron, alcohol. To some extent, the larger importation blocked the development of industrialization in the continent. Selling slaves was a more profitable enterprise than manufacturing. The few manufacturing activities that existed were either destroyed or denied conditions to grow. Cheap textiles from Europe, for instance, undermined local cloth production. The iron tools used before the Atlantic slave trade were made locally. However, as the Europeans were exporting their articles made of iron and steel to Africa, the demand for locally made tools and articles decreases significantly.
Moreover, the slave trade led to the introduction of two crops in Africa from the New World: Maize and Cassava. Of the two new crops, cassava offered more advantages to Africa’s agricultural communities. It could be harvested at any altitude and in any type of soil which broadened food production opportunities. In addition, mature cassava tubers could be left underground for up to two years or more. No other African crop could be stored for that long. Keeping crops in the ground was a way to prevent raiders from finding them and take them.
Maize also offered storage advantages but its main quality was high productivity. Maize could produce nine times more grain per unit of labor than either millet or sorghum, but only where soils were sufficiently fertile and well-watered. Unlike cassava, maize cannot tolerate poor soils and drought. The other qualities of maize include the absence of indigenous pests and a husk which protected the cobs from birds. Overall, maize enabled more intensive use of fertile lands, and cassava allowed unproductive regions to be put into use.
In the 1800’s when the trading of slaves was abolished, valuable or in demand products were still being traded. Much of the labor after the slave trade ended involved production of commodities only available in Africa. Producing commodity crops instead of producing products for local sales or personal consumption became more prominent.
Original parts of the song have been included because we found them relatable and they add to the the quality of our recording. The original song is titled “Zangalewa” and was created to pay tribute to African skirmishers. Several parts of the song are in Fang, a language mostly spoken in Gabon, Southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and a little east of the Central Africa. It is important to notice that those countries were the first territories that the Portuguese sailors conquered in Africa and also exchanged slaves from.
“Tsamina mina” means “come” and “waka waka” means do it. We took this as a call for Africans to come together and rebuild the continent. “Zangalewa” means “Who called you? Who sent you?”. We interpret this as the Africans blaming the Europeans traders and asking why they came in their villages destroying everything they had.
Biography
Whatley, Warren, and Rob Gillezeau. "The Impact of the
Slave Trade on African Economies." (1968):
n. pag. University of Michigan, Department of Economics, 23 May 209. Web. 8 Mar. 2017.
Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print.
http://angadimogarnoottandiloode.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-is-waka-waka-tsamina-tsamina-mina.html
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