ORIGINAL: Zamina Mina (Zangalewa) – Golden Sounds
This hit record for the Cameroonian band Golden Sounds, ‘Zamina Mina (Zangalewa)’ was released in 1986 as a tribute to the African skirmishers during World War II and has acted as the foundation for countless reproductions and samples ever since.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lykt51-RTfc
It is one of the defining songs of the Makossa genre; the Cameroonian urban music style that originated in the 1950s and developed throughout the 2nd half of the 20th century. Makossa means “dance” in the Douala language and stems from a Douala dance called the kossa. It’s a genre not dissimilar to soukous with influences ranging from jazz to highlife to Cuban rumba. This track exemplifies the common Makossa trait, much like other sub-saharan styles evolving around the same period, for using strong electric bass rhythms and prominent brass sections.
Zamina mina’s associations with the army are its defining feature. According to Jean Paul Zé Bella, the lead singer of Golden Sounds, the chorus came from “Cameroonian sharpshooters who had created a slang for better communication between them during the Second World War”. Golden Sounds was created in 1984 by members of Cameroon’s presidential guard and with most of the band in the army themselves, the track has evolved into a regular African marching song that is still used today almost everywhere in Africa by soldiers, policemen, boy scouts, sportsmen alike. It is also widely used in schools throughout the continent, especially in Cameroon, and was a firm favourite among front-line soldiers of the Nigerian Army during the Nigerian Civil War.
Not only was it a huge hit in Africa but it enjoyed a cult following in Columbia too where it was brought to the country by West African DJs and known in the dancehalls of Cartagena as ‘the Military’. So popular was the track that, during their mainstream success, Golden Sounds renamed their band ‘Zangalewa’.
Having hit its heights in the 1980s when it enjoyed international renown as European and American increasingly began recording with Makossa elements, the genre had a revival in 2010 when it was sampled in Shakira’s track ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’ and became one of the anthems of the World Cup in South Africa. Before Shakira, many other artists around the world sampled or recorded their covers of the track including Las Chicas Del Can, Vampire Weekend, and Didier Awadi.
REMIX: Zangalewa (Waka Waka) – Golden Sounds Vs Prommer & Barck
Our favourite reproduction of ‘Zamina Mina (Zangalewa)’ is an infectious mix by German duo Christian Prommer and Alex Barck, who take the track and mould it into a electronic remake that teeters between deep house, afro-spiritual and garage whilst maintaining the chanting tone of the original golden oldie. Here is the 2011 Derwin Records release…