‘Jerusalema’ most Shazamed song in the world
South African song, Jerusalema, is the most Shazamed song in the world.
Shazam is an application that can identify music, movies, advertising and TV shows, based on a short sample played and using the microphone on the device.
On Tuesday Shazam announced that Master KG’s Jerusalema, featuring vocals by Nomcebo, was the most searched song on the platform across the globe.
This latest achievement is a continuation of the acclaim that the track has garnered since it was released in December 2019.
VIEWS ON YOUTUBE
The song, which premiered on YouTube in December 2019, quickly grew to become a favourite of many and has garnered over 124million views so far.
Jerusalema received such an immense reception online that it was later included on Master KG’s second album that was released in January 2020.
It then went viral during the lockdown period leading to the #JerusalemaChallenge that incorporated various moves and trended on various social media platforms.
With its haunting chorus line referencing the holy city, the song does have religious lyrics in Zulu, but its upbeat tempo means its greatest reach has been outside the walls of any church or synagogue.
On Spotify, the song has been streamed more than 66 million times, while on YouTube it has topped 140 million views. That doesn’t include the scores of #JerusalemaDanceChallenge YouTube clips. It also reached No. 11 on iTunes worldwide charts.
JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE
On Thursday, Kenyan MPs joined the now-global Jerusalema dance challenge.
Leader of Majority Leader Amos Kimunya disclosed that the MPs have been practicing for the challenge and are due to film the dance on Wednesday, October 14.
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo and Nominated MP David Sankok said the Master KG hit track has provided an uplifting soundtrack for difficult times especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We took this challenge to show Kenyans that there is peace in diversity, because we are drawn from different political parties and different regions,” Ms Odhiambo started.
All around the world, people, including health care workers, police officers and priests, have been sharing videos of themselves dancing to the song under the hashtag #JerusalemChallenge.