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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Whaaaaaat's on the menuuuuuu? It could beeeeeee ceviiiiiiiiiche. Iiiiiiit's stinkyyyyyyy. Oooooooh it's Pumbaaaaaaa ..."''|"Timon", making up the possible lyrics for ''[[The Lion King (Disney)|The Lion King]]'' opening, ''The Lion King 1½''}}
 
The unknown depths of the jungle are shown. The film cuts to a quieter scene, the [[Jungle Drums]] beat, and some random [['''African Chant]]''' comes from the music. While sometimes the chant may be real, most of the time its just [[As Long Asas It Sounds Foreign|random phrases of Swahili or Zulu in order for it to mean]] ''[[As Long Asas It Sounds Foreign|something]]''.
 
Compare [[Ominous Latin Chanting]].
{{examples}}▼
 
▲{{examples}}
== [[Film]] - Animation ==
* The famous [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX07j9SDFcc opening sunrise] in ''[[The Lion King (Disney)|The Lion King]]'' is possibly the [[Trope Maker]] for more modern examples. It does sound better than most other examples listed, being an actual Zulu phrase.
{{quote| Nants ingonyama! Bagaithi baba!<br />
Sithikum, ingonyama nyeh!<br />
Se nkoba<br />
Ingonyama, ngong iiyamabala<br />
Ingonyama, ngong iiyamabala<br />
Ingonyama, ngong iiyamabala<br />
Ingonyama, ngong iiyamabala<br />
[[Mondegreen|Sitho kwaa]] }}
** The trope is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the [[POV Sequel]], as quoted above
** Rafiki's African Chant while taunting Simba is also a real African phrase. It means, "Thank you very much. Squashed banana. You are a baboon, and I am not."
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRUcijyTvRs Courtship]" and its [[Dark Reprise]], "Breakout/It Comes With a Pool", from ''[[Dinosaur (Disney)|Dinosaur]]''.
 
 
== [[Film]] - Live Action ==
* The go-to-guy if you want genuine African chants: ''Lebo M''.
* ''[[District 9 (Film)|District 9]]'' has this in a few scenes.
* ''[[Avatar]]'' is notorious of this in the scenes with the Navi tribes.
* In the film ''The Power of One'', the song "Mother Africa", as well as the concert, in which the native Africans insult their oblivious white audience.
* In the film ''[[Zulu]]'', the Zulu warriors sing a praise song lauding the British defenders as [[Worthy Opponent|Worthy Opponents]]s before beginning their final assault.
* ''[[Road To|Road to Zanzibar]]'' has a bit of chanting titled "African Etude".
 
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] is from the U.S. version of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (TV)|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'', which had a game called "African Chant". It involved Wayne Brady singing to an audience member in the style of an African Chant, but the real comedy comes from the three other comedians singing and dancing in the background.
** When Brady was told the name of the game, "African Chant", [[Unfortunate Implications|he (understandably) did not react too well]].
{{quote| '''Wayne Brady:''' Hey, how come I gotta do the African Chant? <br />
'''Drew Carey:''' Because Colin would screw it up. }}
* ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' TV series has this on occasion, with real African.
* Sally Cruikshank produced a series of animated inserts for ''[[Sesame Street (TV)|Sesame Street]]'' involving counting up to a certain number, with the highest being 19 and the lowest being 13 (according to Muppet Wiki, there is no animation for 20).
** Another animated ''Sesame Street'' skit involving counting to a certain number had number emerge out of seashells while a chant sounding like "Bading-a-ding bada-bading-a-ding" can be heard in the background.
** Two alphabet songs from the same show are even sung to African tribal music.
* "Mystery Animal" from ''[[Zoboomafoo]]'' (sung over an animation where a cartoon blob is shown morphing into the animal featured in the episode).
 
 
== [[Music]] ==
* "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has a horribly convoluted history, but it was originally a South African pop song (and not a traditional folk piece as later credited) titled "Mbube", which had real Zulu chanting. What made it into the Tokens' version, "wimoweh", is a mispronunciation of the Zulu "uyimbube" ("he is a lion").
* [[Peter Gabriel]] takes this and makes it his favorite instrument. See "In Your Eyes" and "Biko" for examples.
* The Christian song ''Siyahamba'', often translated in English as "We are Marching in the light of God".
*
* [[Shakira]]'s "Waka Waka". Justified.
* Zulu chanting is present in several tracks on [[Paul Simon]]'s ''Graceland'', featuring most prominently in "Homeless", [[Tear Jerker|where a choir of black singers lament about the destruction of their homes in a storm]].
* Singer [[Alex Boye]] frequently incorporates African-language chants and interludes into [https://www.youtube.com/user/ALEXBOYETV his recordings]; it's rapidly becoming one of his trademarks.
 
 
== [[Theatre]] ==
* ''[[Show Boat]]'': The Dahomey dancers in the 1893 World's Fair sequence frighten off white visitors with their frenzied chanting and barbaric manners, then reveal it's a load of [[Big Applesauce]] -- "our home just ain't Dahomey at all" but New York.
 
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The 'Baba Yetu' opening-sequence from ''[[Civilization (Video Game)|Civilization]] 4''. It's actually just a Swahili rendition of the classic 'Our Father' prayer - but in Swahili, it comes across as some sort of tribal chant.
* In [[Macro Zone]] forest levels of ''[[Serious Sam (Video Game)|Serious Sam]] II'' and some of the jungle levels, a fight music has these stock sounds.
* The Adventure Field's Mystic Ruins in ''[[Sonic Adventure (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure]]''.
** Mazuri in ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]''.
* ''[[Shivers]]'': Happens in the background music while in the Shaman room.
 
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [[That Guy With theThe Glasses|Doug Walker]] has... things to say about this trope:
{{quote|[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/specials/29706-dougs-top-10-movies-he-hates-but-everyones-else-loves Fast-forward to 32:30]
[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/specials/30502-dougs-top-10-worst-cliches Fast forward to #5]}}
 
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Zecora the zebra from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', speaks and chants african-esque sounds which freaks all the ponies of Ponyville out and they assume she's evil. [[Word of God]] is that they wanted her to be speaking authentic Swahili in ''Bridle Gossip'', but they didn't have the time or resources. Instead, they got the voice actor to make up some African-sounding gibberish. [http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/9/91/Swahili.png Lauren Faust said that she likes to imagine Zecora is speaking Zebra in lieu of Swahili.]{{Dead link}}
* The ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' parody of ''[[The Lion King]]'' has this:
{{quote| Ahhh la wain-ya! Ee-malla ee ya away!<br />
Oom balla ee ya walla ling goo<br />
Ee oola coola yalla din doo<br />
Oo day loo ee-a totta malla<br />
I no ees joost a lota walla }}
* "Circle of Poo" from ''[[South Park]]''.
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