"Congratulate" is a song by South African rapper AKA. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, '' Levels'' (2014). The song was sent to radio stations across South Africa in March 2014, and debuted at number one on

Metro FM Metro FM is a national commercial radio station in South Africa owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts on FM Stereo as well as the DStv Bouquet Channel 801. Telephone : History The station started broad ...

, 5FM and

YFM YFM (99.2 FM) is a "Youth" radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1997, the station is formatted to mostly play urban music genres such as Kwaito, Hip Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular m ...

. Moreover, it peaked at number two on South Africa's official music chart. "Congratulate" was produced by Tazzy, a member of the funk band Muzart.

Composition and meaning

"Congratulate" samples Harrison Crump's "Ride". An electric piano chord was played simultaneously with the sample. Three verses and a hook comprise the song. Throughout the song, the

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...

changes. Singer JR contributed background vocals to the song. In "Congratulate", AKA raps about his journey to success. In early 2014, he told

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

he recorded "Congratulate" to relate with ordinary people and that the song is about one celebrating the positive milestones in their lives. In May 2015, "Congratulate" was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry of South Africa Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) is a trade association representing the interests of major and independent record labels of South Africa. Located in Randburg, RiSA is responsible for running the annual South African Music Awards (SAMA ...

Cover art and music video

AKA shared the artwork for "Congratulate" prior to releasing it. He posted the cover art on Twitter and tagged it with the hash-tag "#AKACongratulate". On 1 May 2014, the accompanying music video for the song was released and uploaded to YouTube at a total length of 4 minutes and 2 seconds.

Accolades

The music video for "Congratulate" won Most Gifted Hip-hop and was nominated for Most Gifted Southern, as well as Most Gifted Video of the Year at the 2014 Channel O Music Video Awards.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 songs 2014 singles AKA (rapper) songs Songs written by AKA (rapper)