Zenga Zenga is an auto-tuned song and viral

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video that parodied the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The song, released on February 22, 2011, quickly became popular among the

Libyan opposition The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organized and armed militia groups, participants in the Libyan Civil ...

active in the 2011 Libyan civil war. The song was created by Noy Alooshe, an Israeli journalist and musician. The original video has more than 5 million views and the edited "clean" version has surpassed 1 million hits.

Background

On February 22, 2011, Gaddafi gave a televised speech amidst violent

social unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty ...

against his government. In the speech (in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

), Gaddafi vowed to hunt down protesters "inch by inch, house by house, home by home, ''alleyway by alleyway'' rabic: زنقة زنقة pronounced in Libyan dialect as ''Zenga Zenga''" An Israeli journalist and musician, Noy Alooshe, was watching the speech and saw Gaddafi's strange dress and gesticulations as something out of a

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

party. Using the natural beat of Gaddafi's words, Alooshe spent a few hours at his computer and using

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

technology set the speech to the music of " Hey Baby," a song by American rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

featuring another American rap artist, T-Pain. The original video features clips from Gaddafi's speech alongside mirror images of a scantily clad woman dancing. Alooshe titled the new song "Zenga Zenga," based on Gaddafi's repetition in his speech of the word , Arabic for

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...

way in the Libyan dialect. American comedian Conan O'Brien ostensibly first popularized the transformation of into "zenga zenga" and Alooshe named the clip accordingly. By early Wednesday morning in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Alooshe had uploaded the "electro hip hop remix" to YouTube. By Sunday night, through promotion on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

, the video had gone viral, receiving nearly 500,000 hits.

Reception

Reactions were largely positive, presumably from members of the Libyan opposition who embraced it for its mockery of Gaddafi. Some also found the video distasteful, not only because it contains a woman provocatively dancing, but also because the creator of the video, Alooshe, is an Israeli Jew. At the request of web users who wanted to be able to share the video with their more conservative parents, Alooshe created another version without the clips of the dancer. However, Gaddafi and his loyalist supporters apparently co-opted the song for their own purposes. As reported by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', at a speech given by Gaddafi's daughter,

Ayesha Gaddafi Ayesha Gaddafi ( ar, عائشة القذافي, born December 25, 1977), also known as Aisha Gaddafi, is a Libyan former mediator and military official, former UN Goodwill Ambassador, and lawyer by profession. She is the fifth child and only bi ...

, "Zenga Zenga" blared in the background. The original video has more than 5 million views on YouTube. The edited version without the girl has over 1 million hits.

References

External links

* * * * {{2011 Libyan civil war First Libyan Civil War 2011 singles Cultural depictions of Muammar Gaddafi Novelty songs Satirical songs Songs about politicians Songs about military officers Songs based on actual events Songs about Libya Viral videos 2011 YouTube videos he:תופעת אינטרנט#זנגה זנגה