Forty years later, from Weezer to Leo Moracchioli, everybody likes Africa.
It may seem strange, but Toto's 80s hit 'Africa', forty years after its release, is an example of a song that thrives through time and conquers new generations of fans.
Somehow, this cheesy, emotional tune, inspires unironic adoration across the web. With over two billion streams on YouTube and Spotify combined, the song has found a new life in the internet age!
But what explains this long-lasting popularity if the song was, at the time of its release, not a such a hit?
Part of the explanation comes from the intrinsic qualities of the song, as blogger 12 Tone explained in his YouTube series “we're taking a look at one of the most famous songs on the internet, Africa, by Toto. It sounds simple, but Toto was full of brilliant session musicians, and they managed to bury a lot of really clever touches in it, including possibly the most interesting piece of harmony we've looked at yet”.
Since 2013, covers and parodies appear on YouTube and on a Reditt forum. The song then started appearing on several TV shows like Family Guy, South Park, Jimmy Fallon and Stranger Things.
In 2017 the song won a fantastic hard rock style cover by Leo Moracchioli and in 2018 the Weezer version.
With 32nd most explosive chorus, according to the British magazine NME, 'Africa" will probably continue to win the hearts and minds of new generations.
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