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Barack Obama adds South African song ‘Uwrongo’ to year-end playlist

MPHO RANTAO

FORMER American president Barack Obama released his popular, year end music playlist – a compilation of his favourite songs from 2020 – and one of the songs included is a South African track called ‘Uwrongo’.

It is the first time that the former president has added any South African song to his annual anticipated playlist.

Obama’s ‘Favourite Music of 2020’ playlist is part of his year-end recommendations that the former president compiles in various categories including books, movies & TV (a new feature due to covid-19 lockdown regulations), and music. 

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The playlist features features from hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion,Travis Scott and Anderson .Paak, R&B music from H.E.R., British singer Yebba and Jhene Aiko. 

The former president wrote on the caption, “Here are some of my favorite songs of the year. As usual, I had some valuable consultation from our family music guru, Sasha, to put this together. I hope you find a new song or two to listen to”. 

‘Uwrongo’ is a popular house track produced by DJs Prince Kaybee, Shimza, award-winning house duo Black Motion; and features Xhosa soulstress Ami Faku on vocals.

The only other African artists on the list are Nigeria’s Wizkid and Tems for the former’s single ‘Essence’ which comes off his latest album ‘Made In Lagos’. 

READ:  Obama slams Trump as unfit, says U.S. democracy is at risk

Obama posted his playlist on his Instagram page on Saturday, and by the next day, the inclusion of ‘Uwrongo’ set the tongues of South Africans and house fans wagging. 

House artist Prince Kaybee took to Twitter to share his shock at the feature of his song on the list and congratulate his collaborators on the feature. 

https://twitter.com/princekaybee_sa/status/1340406482945372162?s=21
https://twitter.com/ami_faku/status/1340417014754664448?s=21

Singer Ami Faku spoke on South African news channel eNCA about the feature, telling the news channel that she and the other artists were quite chuffed at the inclusion and the excitement shared by other house enthusiasts. 

“We were so excited. I’ve been up since I first found out and haven’t stopped receiving praises and other messages about it”, Faku told eNCA. “We [her and the other DJs] were quite excited about the announcement since he is such a big profile, and to know that he listened to our song makes me very happy”. 

Faku went on to explain that the song, which was released earlier this year, was a song about learning to heal and remove oneself from toxic, painful situations that may have left them with scars and lessons. 

Faku also added that the song was a sort of advisory tale not only to herself by herself, but also to others who resonated with the Xhosa-sung song. 

The house single received gold certification in April, two months after its release, accumulating over 2.7 millions streams. 

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Prince Kaybee (in white) along with Shimza (far right), Black Motion and Ami Faku (centre) in the ‘Uwrongo’ music video. Picture: Youtube
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By The African Mirror

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