"Hello Afrika" is a 1990 song recorded by Sweden-based musician and producer Dr. Alban. It was released as the debut single from his first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

with the same name (1990). It features Swedish Eurodance singer Leila K. The song is similar to

Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...

's "Hello Africa", but in the style of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

. It peaked at number one in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and achieved a great success in most of the other

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an countries, including Sweden, Germany and Switzerland. Dr. Alban has stated that "Hello Afrika" took about two months to record. In the 2017 book ''Stars of 90's Dance Pop: 29 Hitmakers Discuss Their Careers'' by James Arena, he told about meeting

Denniz PoP Dag Krister Volle (26 April 1963 – 30 August 1998), better known as Denniz Pop (stylized ''Denniz PoP''), was a Swedish DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He was a member of the DJ collective SweMix and later co-founded the recording studio ...

and of the making of the song, "We met through the DJ channels, as he was working as one at the same time I was. We just started working together on "Hello Afrika", and it all came together. We had a good chemistry, and we just thought, "Come on, let's go in the studio and see what we can do." It was hard to get the song initially released, but the thing is that other DJs (who we gave it to before we had a record deal) played the track and liked it. That built demand for it in the clubs, and then it started to hit radio. That later paved the way for our deal with ogic and Ariola Records" It has been covered by South African group Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels. It was covered by Grup Raptiye as "Hello Malatya" at the 1991 album, ''Doping'', and by Grup Vitamin as "Hamiyet" at "Bol Vitamin" one in 1990 and "Deli Dolu Best Of 1" in 1996.

Critical reception

In his review of the '' Hello Afrika'' album, Larry Flick from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' commented, "Equally strong are the title track, a prideful

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

ode that features a nifty guest appearance by Leila K." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Pounding, tribal drums dominate this poppy rap for African unity." The magazine also called it "an great African

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

track, hailing from Sweden." They added, "This mixture of African tribal rhythms, Jamaican toasting and western house technology is already very big in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n and German clubs. The rest of Europe will doubtlessly follow." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' described it as a " Prince Buster influenced tuggingly rolling ragga rap".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Hello Afrika" was directed by Scottish director Paul Boyd. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe. Boyd would also go on directing the video for Alban's next single, "

No Coke "No Coke" is a song recorded by Sweden-based musician and producer Dr. Alban. It was originally released as the B-side of the 12-inch version of his debut single, " Hello Afrika", and became the second single off his debut album, '' Hello Afrik ...

Track listings

* 7" single # "Hello Afrika" (Marc Spoon's radio edit) — 3:46 # "Hello Afrika" (single mix) — 3:13 * CD single # "Hello Afrika" (Marc Spoon's radio edit) — 3:46 # "Hello Afrika" (single mix) — 3:13 * CD maxi # "Hello Afrika" (fast blast club mix) — 5:40 # "Hello Afrika" (aaahfrika mix) — 6:25 # "Jungle Beats" (gurana mix) — 4:28 # "Hello Afrika" (single mix) — 3:13 * CD maxi/12" maxi single - Remix # "Hello Afrika" (tech-makossa-mix) — 7:42 # "Hello Afrika" (freedom for bleeb & bass mix) — 6:30 # "

" (hip hop reggae in a dance hall style) — 4:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1990 debut singles 1990 songs Dr. Alban songs English-language Swedish songs Leila K songs Music videos directed by Paul Boyd Number-one singles in Austria Reggae fusion songs Song recordings produced by Denniz Pop Songs written by Denniz Pop Songs written by Dr. Alban Songs written by Leila K