#mbube

Tracklist:

The Boy In the Bubble • Graceland • I Know What I Know • Gumboots • Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes • You Can Call Me Al • Under African Skies • Homeless • Crazy Love, Vol. II • That Was Your Mother • All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

Today’s compilation:

Spike & Co.: Do It a Cappella 1990 A Cappella / R&B / Soul / Doo Wop / Mbube

Here's a Spike Lee joint that you may have never actually heard of before: a 1990 PBS documentary he directed called Spike & Co.: Do It a Cappella, in which he managed to showcase six of contemporary a cappella music's most popular groups at the time. Today, I listened to its soundtrack.

Now, in general, I have a lot of respect for a cappella music. I think it takes a whole lot of skill and practice to do it well, and the complex harmonies it has a way of yielding can be totally mesmerizing at times. Plus, there's really nothing like implementing an extremely low male vocal to mimic a plucked bass string, a thing that doo wop successfully cultivated decades prior.

But I also don't think I'm alone here when I say that there tends to be an overall air of creepiness to this music too; like, a disconcerting level of over-earnestness that evokes a feeling of near-cultishness. You know those people whose disposition can be just a bit too sunny for you, to the point of it seeming somewhat odd? That's a cappella, to me, in a nutshell. Oftentimes, it's just too positive to be enjoyed.

Take Rockapella and True Image's cover of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk," for instance. This is a really dynamic song, and I really love the beatboxing and bass combo that undergirds the whole thing. But it's also a song that's, just, so fucking extremely cloying! It's like the aural equivalent of eating a full gallon of ice cream in one sitting! 😵

However, despite my ridicule of this very well-made music, I do have an actual highlight for you all: The Mint Juleps' cover of Jackie Wilson's timeless Chicago soul classic, "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher." Now, I don't think that anything will ever actually top Wilson's original version, but I definitely still think that this is an excellent cover of it. And it's probably because the lead vocalist doesn't sound like a sugar stick fully coated in Fun Dip! And her falsetto's great too!

So, maybe my and a lot of other peoples' main issue with a cappella is, ultimately, that it's just way too saccharine for our tastes? Maybe what we really need is something that's a bit more dour? Something...gothy? Gothappella? That's gotta be a thing already, right? Like, a weird group that the Pitch Perfect crew faces off against in an early round? If not, it probably should be. And they'd definitely call themselves Pentagramix, right?

Okay, I'll see myself out now. Bye!

Highlights:

That song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", we all love? Was practically stolen from Solomon Linda who received 0 compensation from Disney.

In 1939, inside a Johannesburg recording studio, a Zulu migrant worker named Solomon Popoli Linda stepped up to a single microphone. Backed by his vocal group, The Evening Birds, Linda recorded a song that would change music history forever. The song was called Mbube—Zulu for “lion.” What started as a spontaneous harmony, led by Linda’s soaring falsetto, would echo across continents and decades. Yet for much of the 20th century, the world sang along to The Lion Sleeps Tonight without ever knowing the man who first gave it a voice.

Solomon Linda was born in 1909 in Pomeroy, Natal, South Africa (Dean, 2019). Like many young men of his generation, he left rural life and moved to Johannesburg in search of work. The city was alive with cultural exchange, especially in the vibrant townships where traditional Zulu songs mixed with jazz, gospel, and emerging choral forms. Linda worked as a cleaner and later as a record packer at the Gallo Record Company, one of South Africa’s earliest recording studios. But in the evenings, he pursued his true passion: singing. With friends and relatives, he formed a group called The Evening Birds, blending Zulu vocal traditions with new harmonies (Performing Songwriter, 2017).

In 1939, Linda and his group were invited into the studio to record. They cut several tracks, but it was Mbube that stood out. The song was built around Linda’s falsetto cry, repeating the word “uyimbube,” meaning “you are a lion” (Verster, 2002). The recording was raw, hypnotic, and powerful. Unlike Western music of the time, it had no instruments—just layered voices. The song captured the spirit of Zulu hunting chants and choral traditions, but in a format that could be pressed onto vinyl. When released, Mbube became a sensation. It sold more than 100,000 copies in South Africa—an extraordinary number at the time (Wassel, 2009). The popularity of the track even gave its name to a new musical style: the mbube genre, which later evolved into isicathamiya, famously performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Though Linda could not have known it at the time, his recording was destined to travel far beyond South Africa. Copies of Mbube reached Europe and the United States, where it caught the ear of folk music collectors and musicians. In the 1950s, Pete Seeger and The Weavers adapted it into Wimoweh, altering the Zulu lyrics into syllables that American audiences could sing (Shabalala, 2021). In 1961, the pop group The Tokens released The Lion Sleeps Tonight, adding English lyrics and Western instrumentation. That version went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, cementing the song’s global fame (WIPO, 2006). But Solomon Linda’s name was lost along the way. He had signed away his rights for a small payment, and as the song earned millions abroad, Linda and his family lived in poverty. He died in 1962 without ever receiving the royalties or recognition he deserved (Vincent, 2004).

Today, Linda is remembered not only as the composer of Mbube, but as a pioneer of African popular music. His recording influenced generations of South African musicians and helped bring Zulu choral traditions to the global stage. After decades of legal battles, Linda’s family finally secured a settlement in 2006 that acknowledged his authorship and provided financial compensation (Al Jazeera, 2006). Still, his story remains a powerful example of how African creativity was exploited in the global music industry. Every time we hear The Lion Sleeps Tonight, we are really hearing Solomon Linda’s voice—the voice of a man who created a timeless anthem from a single falsetto cry in 1939.

Solomon Linda’s life was humble, but his creation was monumental. Mbube began as a Zulu choral song and became a worldwide anthem, reshaped by others but rooted in Linda’s imagination. His story reminds us of the importance of crediting artists, protecting cultural heritage, and recognizing the origins of the music we love. To dive deeper into how Mbube was altered, rebranded as Wimoweh, and eventually became The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

FAQs about Solomon Linda and Mbube

Q1: Who was Solomon Linda? Solomon Popoli Linda was a Zulu singer and composer, born in 1909 in Pomeroy, Natal, South Africa. He became known for creating Mbube, a choral song recorded in 1939 that later evolved into Wimoweh and The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Q2: What does Mbube mean? Mbube means “lion” in Zulu. The song’s refrain, “uyimbube,” translates as “you are a lion.”

Q3: How did Mbube become The Lion Sleeps Tonight? The song traveled from South Africa to the United States, where it was first adapted by Pete Seeger and The Weavers into Wimoweh in the 1950s. In 1961, The Tokens reworked it into The Lion Sleeps Tonight, adding English lyrics and pop instrumentation.

Q4: Did Solomon Linda receive royalties for his song? No. Linda sold the rights for a small fee and died in 1962 in poverty. His family received no royalties until a legal settlement was reached in 2006, decades after the song had earned millions globally.

Q5: What is Solomon Linda’s legacy today? Linda is remembered as the pioneer of the mbube vocal tradition, which gave birth to modern isicathamiya. His story is now widely taught as a case study in cultural appropriation and intellectual property rights.

References

Al Jazeera. (2006, February 16). Disney settles Lion King song lawsuit. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/16/disney-settles-lion-king-song-lawsuit

Dean, O. (2019). Awakening the lion in the jungle: The story of the Mbube / The Lion Sleeps Tonight case. Without Prejudice (South Africa). https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC-174924d1e5

Performing Songwriter. (2017, May 1). The story of Solomon Linda & The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh). Performing Songwriter. https://performingsongwriter.com/lion-sleeps-tonight/

Shabalala, D. B. (2021). Do we need exit rules for traditional knowledge? Lessons from Solomon Linda, and the Mbube/‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ case. Queen Mary School of Law Research Paper. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3914377

Verster, F. (Director). (2002). A Lion’s Trail [Documentary film]. Independent Lens / PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/lionstrail/

Vincent, R. (2004, July 3). A legal uproar over song in Lion King. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-03-fi-lion3-story.html

Wassel, D. (2009). From Mbube to Wimoweh: African folk music in dual systems of law. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 20(1), 383–428. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol20/iss1/11

The Story Of Solomon Linda The Elite Swingsters date back to 1958 and have a long history with Dolly Rathebe being a one time member. On this one they take on the Solomon Linda classic, ‘Mbube’. Most people will be familiar with the tune as being ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and there is a whole history around how the song moved from being ‘Mbube’ to ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and the legal cases…