Music and dance are integral parts of African culture, often serving as a means of storytelling, celebration, and empowerment. Body-themed songs, in particular, hold a special place, reflecting the beauty, strength, and resilience of the human form. These songs often blend traditional rhythms with contemporary styles, creating a vibrant and dynamic sound that resonates with audiences worldwide.
A song, when being sung and played, acquires a body. It does this by taking over and briefly possessing existent bodies: the body of the double bass standing vertical while it’s being strummed, or the body of the harmonica cupped in a pair of hands hovering and pecking like a bird before a mouth, or the torso of the drummer as he rolls.
In every song there is distance. The song is not distant, but distance is one of its ingredients, just as presence is an ingredient of any graphic image. Distance separates or can be crossed in order to bring about a coming-together. Songs refer to aftermaths and returns, welcomes and farewells. Or to put it another way: songs are sung to an absence. Absence is what inspired them, and it’s what they address. At the same time (and the phrase “at the same time” takes on a special meaning here), in the sharing of the song the absence is also shared and so becomes less acute, less solitary, less silent.
We have noted how a song borrows existent physical bodies in order to acquire, while it’s being sung, a body of its own. The borrowed body may be that of an instrument, a single player, a group of players, a bunch of listeners. And the song shifts unpredictably from one borrowed body to another. The essence of songs is neither vocal nor cerebral but organic. We follow songs in order to be enclosed. We find ourselves inside a message.
The words of songs are different from the words that make prose. In prose, words are independent agents; in songs, they are first and foremost the intimate sounds of their mother tongue. Songs are like rivers: each follows its own course, yet all flow to the sea, from which everything came. The fact that in many languages the place where a river enters the sea is called the river’s mouth emphasizes the comparison. The waters that flow out of a river’s mouth have come from an immense elsewhere.
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Tyla and the Rise of Amapiano
One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the rise of amapiano, a genre that combines South African house music and jazz. Tyla Laura Seethal, a South African artist, has been instrumental in bringing this sound to a global audience with her hit song "Water."
Tyla explained the importance of home to Complex, “I come with the story. I come from a very small place, a little city in South Africa all the way at the bottom of Africa, the tip. Still, she didn’t know if her dream was possible. Though pop stardom didn’t seem like a realistic goal, Tyla made it her reality. But Tyla isn’t content with being an African pop star. Like her heroes Rihanna, Michael Jackson, and Drake, Tyla wants to be global.
“Water” combines Tyla’s essential elements: her African roots in amapiano-pop, dance, and moving R&B vocals. Tyla told Rolling Stone “Water” is a “frisky” song. She said, “It’s me letting a guy know, ‘Show me what you got to offer.
British producer and DJ Sammy SoSo produced the song and combined amapiano and pop music. Amapiano loosely translates to “the pianos” and combines South African house music and jazz. SoSo built a slower house beat under jazzy textures, synths, and a percussive bassline for Tyla. She sings through audible Auto-Tune, creating a cosmic sound as if she’s underwater.
The music video for “Water” follows Tyla out with her friends at a beach party. She told Essence, “I really wanted to create a video that felt organic. Streaming music and social media have shrunk the world.
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She’s since become the highest-charting African female solo artist after “Water” reached the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. Tyla Laura Seethal is a born performer who grew up dancing and singing for her family. However, her parents encouraged her to prioritize her education and preferred music to remain a hobby.
“Water” is a “frisky” song. She said, “It’s me letting a guy know, ‘Show me what you got to offer. Inspired by Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat,” Tyla used innuendo instead of direct language.
Tyla wrote “Water” with a team of writers, including Tricky Stewart, who collaborated with Beyoncé on her No. She recorded “Water” in Cape Town, South Africa, and entered the studio wanting to create a “summer banger.” She said, “As soon as I heard ‘Water,’ I said, ‘It’s over.
After hearing the track, Tyla was confident about its commercial potential. She added, “I would describe ‘Water’ as the song of the year … it’s the sound of Africa.
The music video for “Water” follows Tyla out with her friends at a beach party. She told Essence, “I really wanted to create a video that felt organic.
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She said the “Water” dance came naturally to her, and like many in her generation, she grew up comfortable with social media. Bacardi involves belly dancing, twerking, and complex legwork set to amapiano music.
Meanwhile, Travis Scott remixed “Water” with a new verse and an alternative music video featuring the two artists standing on opposite sides of foggy glass.
Typically, global pop music with world sounds was recorded by Western artists mining other cultures for inspiration. Artists like David Byrne, Sting, Madonna, and Paul Simon looked around the world for new sounds or sounds new to them. Vampire Weekend famously looked to West Africa for their version of indie rock.
Tyla's "Water" dance challenge took social media by storm.
Megan Thee Stallion and Body Positivity
Another artist making waves with body-positive anthems is Megan Thee Stallion. Her song "Body" celebrates women's figures and promotes self-confidence. The lyrics and music video showcase diverse body types, encouraging listeners to embrace their own unique beauty.
"Body" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who wrote the song during the COVID-19 quarantine and was inspired by her own figure during the creative process, with additional concentration on sizes of waist and breasts. It was released on November 20, 2020, by 1501 Certified Entertainment and 300 Entertainment as the third single from her debut studio album Good News (2020). It coincided with the release of the album and was supported by a music video featuring cameo appearances from Taraji P. Henson, Blac Chyna, and Jordyn Woods, among others.
"Body" received positive reviews from critics, who praised its lyrics for being body-positive and empowering for women. It peaked at number twelve on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the component Streaming Songs chart, where it made Megan Thee Stallion the first woman in history to achieve three number-one songs in a single year.
"Body" is an up-tempo "erotic" song, containing an "NSFW-like" sample of a woman sexually moaning in an unknown pornographic film as well as "huge drums" and "thick synth bass lines". Lyrically, Megan brags about her desirability, being the envy of other women and the fantasy of their men.
In the United States, "Body" debuted at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated December 5, 2020. streams in the tracking week of November 20-26. It marked her third number-one single on the chart, following "Savage Remix" featuring Beyoncé and her feature on Cardi B's single “WAP,” both of which were released in 2020. With this, Megan Thee Stallion entered a six-way tie for the fifth-most leaders in Streaming Songs' history, alongside Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Juice Wrld, Lil Baby and Miley Cyrus.
Elsewhere, the song had a moderate success, except in France, where it was a huge success, peaking at number three, becoming the first song by a female rapper to reach the top five since "Starships" by Nicki Minaj did so in March 2012, and was Megan's first song to do it. It was also the rapper's third entry in the country.
Meghan Thee Stallion performed clean versions of "Body", "Girls in the Hood", "Mamushi", and "Savage", at a rally for 2024 United States presidential election candidate Kamala Harris on July 31, 2024.
The music video for "Body" was directed by Colin Tilley and features choreography from both Megan Thee Stallion and choreographer JaQuel Knight. It was released alongside both the song and album on November 20, 2020. Megan Thee Stallion engaged in a livestream premiere for the song's music video as part of the YouTube Originals' Released series. At the premiere, she told fans, "You're going to see all body shapes, a lot of strong women doing the damn thing. Just being confident and owning their bodies and their sexuality".
Celebrities who make cameo appearances in the music video for "Body" include Taraji P. Henson, Blac Chyna, and Jordyn Woods.
Megan Thee Stallion engaged in a livestream premiere for the song's music video as part of the YouTube Originals' Released series. At the premiere, she told fans, "You're going to see all body shapes, a lot of strong women doing the damn thing. Just being confident and owning their bodies and their sexuality".
Megan Thee Stallion's "Body" celebrates body positivity and female empowerment.
The table below provides a summary of the key details of the songs discussed:
| Song Title | Artist | Genre | Key Themes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | Tyla | Amapiano-pop | African roots, dance, R&B vocals |
| Body | Megan Thee Stallion | Hip-Hop | Body positivity, female empowerment |
