Zule Zoo may sound strange to you all but to make it easy, Zule Zoo originates from Africa, Nigeria to be precise. Zule Zoo is a Nigerian music duo which got formed in the late 90s by two childhood friends, Al-Hassan Ibrahim and Michael Aboh. As at the early 20s, Zule Zoo was the biggest music band or group in Nigeria.
And when talking about Zule Zoo, we should never forget that they are the greatest pioneers of the Takuraku beat. This beat projected the Nigerian Culture basically with the use of drums and how exactly the drum sounds.
The Zule Zoo’s were basically known for their fusion of so many musical genres like Raggae, Hip Hop and Nigerian contemporary music itself.
Back then when the Zule Zoo music duo was functioning, no other music duo could come close to them because they took every space in people’s heart.
Talking about the Zule Zoo’s, most people who will be familiar with their songs are those who were born during the days when they used to reign.
This music duo do not just sing, they make sure to make good music which will pass a message across to everyone. It may not be something you can learn from all the time but will surely be something fun that you can relate to.
During their existence, they released so many songs like Kerewa, Chin Kpan, Bad Belle, Song for Mama and others.
Kerewa
This particular song broke into the Nigerian music industry then. I was still very small but I can bet that I still know the lyrics. The word Kerewa means sex. I think the explanation people were given and how the song tells a story about a man and woman had sex. Let’s have a listen at the song.
As you can see in the video, there are likes of African costumes that were put to use. Yeah, it’s truly giving the African vibe.
Chin Kpan
Merely watching the video of this song, I know you can tell that this is Africa. That’s just it. From their costume, down to the beat then the rhythm, Africa was fully portrayed in the song.
From my findings, Chin Kpan means so I wonder why these guys love to sing about anything related to sex, lol.
Bad Belle
Bad Belle simply means haters. These two guys are not the ones who coined that word. It is a general word used for haters here in Nigeria and any other part of Africa that speaks Pidgin English.
I’m seeing so many African behaviors portrayed in this song. And the beat you hear and the costumes you see here originates from Benue State, Nigeria.
However, a great band like this which got everyone in Nigeria shaking their bodies will surely have a bad side. Unfortunately, the band splited in 2008 after Michael Aboh released a solo album titled E dey pain me. At some point, we heard some rumors that these two friends will come back together to stage their most popular song, Kerewa so that they can get the public attention again but that part never happened.
And in 2022, Al-Hassan Ibrahim took to his social media page to announce the death of his partner, Micheal Aboh who died after slumping in the bathroom while taking his bath.
That’s a proof that the Zule Zoo would never come back or be complete again. So sad. Let’s have more songs of the Zule Zoo band and let’s have some fun.
Sweet 16
As you can see, there were some crazy dance steps in this song, lol. The Zule Zoos were known for auch dance steps.
Necessary
Why do most African men like to move shirtless? Our men are so used to flaunting their chests here in Africa.
Zule Zoo, which means warriors are never forgotten was a great band that contributed to my childhood and to the childhood of every other child especially thise born in the 90s. You may be wondering what kind of music or what kind of vibe this is, it is pure Nigerian/ African vibe.