Makeba trend: Short videos breath life into old songs

Short videos are the most popular thing on the internet today. Not memes, not gifs, but reels. Reels have really transformed the way entertainment is perceived and content is consumed. Engagement and virality on reels primarily depends upon trends. These trends are undefined. They can be literally anything, a hot topic, a hook step, a famous dialogue, a typical characteristic, fashion, food, music. Reels is a platform where everything works.

Many times, two or more trends end up being used together. One very popular example is fashion related videos. Influencers make various types of fashion videos along with a popular, in trend song playing in the background. Two trends, fashion and music work together to reach a larger audience. Recently, Makeba, a song released in 2015 by French Artist Jain became popular all over social media after being used millions of times by creators on reels.

While everyone is grooving to the beats of Makeba, did you know that Makeba is actually the name of a person, Zenzi Miriam Makeba. She was famously known as ‘Mama Africa,’ a nickname she gained after being the first black woman to speak at the United Nations in 1963. Zenzi Miriam Makeba was also the first black South African musician to gain international fame. She was also a human rights worker and social activist who extensively worked and spoke against apartheid. Makeba gained institutional recognition in 1999 when she became the UN Goodwill ambassador as well as in 2002 when one of her albums was nominated for a Grammy under the 'World Music’ category.

Jain’s Makeba was part of her first album called Zanaka and paid tribute to the African icon.

Some other old songs that found their way back to evergreen times through reels are Let’s Groove by Earth, Wind & Fire, It’s All Coming Back To Me Now originally performed by Pandora’s Box in 1989 and recreated by Celine Dion in 1996, Rasputin by Boney M, O Sanam by Lucky Ali, Mere Dil Ye Pukare by Lata Mangeshkar among many more.