Shaka Zulu

i've heard reference to this album, but never listened. It's warm and calming. I don't hate it.

Nice and mellow. I only know LBM from their work with Paul Simon but I really liked hearing them sans collaboration here. Not sure how often I would come back to it, but definitely would want to at some point. 3.4/5

The songs are pleasant. I just couldn't connect with an a cappela album. It isn't for me. 2/5

It was different. I liked it.

Ok 2/5

I like Ladysmith Black Mambazo's sound. But it all sounds the same. Good album, but not great.

Pleasant listen. I was clapping along at the end. Nothing to do with the album, but Shaka Zulu the person always makes me think of when a Jeopardy contestant said "Who is Chaka Khan?" to a clue about him

Liked this a lot but not sure how often I would throw some African music in otherwise

It's nice. 3/5.

Fine

This album does have a pretty chorus of singers. I could never take that away from it. However, speaking from personal enjoyment, it just wasn't really for me. I wasn't totally sure where the songs even transitioned. It felt like I was listening to one song for an hour rather than 10 different songs.

I appreciate the craftsmanship and the cultural identity, but for some reason I can’t sit down with this album and say, “this is really good!” Maybe it’s my ethnocentrism, maybe I’ll come around to it someday. But for now, it just doesn’t captivate me. 4/10

Spectacular vocal performances highlight that even if I can't understand the words the sentiment behind the harmonies shines through clearly. THIS is something that should be on a list like this. Pleasantly surprised after an 8 record run of absolute watery shit recommended by the 1001 albumgenerator.

Smooth

I listened to this on a lazy Sunday morning, which is probably the optimum time to hear it - it’s so soothing. And just when it was starting to wear out its welcome, it finished.

A whole album of acapella chanting, beautiful as it is at times, just isn't for me. Faves: Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain

Not really for me, but that's okay. Best wishes

Gorgeous

70

07/03/2026 It's not really my thing but I appreciate what it is. Spotify listeners: 330.6k

I don't really like this genre that much. Nevertheless, it was quite interesting to listen to this album. It didn't really inspire me. Towards the end, it started to get on my nerves a bit. It's not my taste and I won't listen to it again. 3/5

A good album, I liked Hello My Baby the most.

Not available

Este album es un ejemplo de Isicathamiya, genero de musica tipico del pueblo Zulu de Sudafrica. Fue un muy buen change de la musica occidental que hemos escuchado hasta ahora. Es un tipo de musica muy calming. Sin embargo, como no es un genero que escucho mucho, al final del album todo lo escuchaba igual y bajo mi interes por el 3/5

Can you have too much of a nice thing? I think you can, and with this album I did. It’s objectively beautiful to listen to - unadorned, consistently great compositions. But the sound (I cannot comment on the lyrics) comes across saccharine if you listen to it too much, a whole album for example. The effect is that it felt a long 30ish minutes despite being of considerable merit. Something beautiful for a few minutes but not for lengthy listening.

Cultural, spiritual, ceremonial...perhaps.  I just found this was pleasant for the most part but its crime to my naive ears was it was just that and it didn't really shift.  In the end I found it irritating which is not a good sign. Maybe if I listened and gave it a little more time my appreciation would shift but cant work out if the style, the cultural difference to my norm or the language were the problem.  In the end not captivating in any new and interesting way.

This is a beautiful recording, but I think of it more of an academic listen than something that speaks personally to me. Regional folk music grants a glimpse into a place that I have never been to and a culture that I know little about. I pressed play and let myself sink into a relaxing sound bath for half an hour. There is such lovely tone to the voices and complex and unfamiliar harmonies to the western listener. It's basically a whole album of the most interesting elements of Graceland and I would absolutely love to hear this performed live. The catch is, that outside of this cultural interest, I can't imagine I will find a niche for this album in my regular listening rotation.

I very much enjoyed this lowkey South African a capella album from Ladysmith Black Mambazo! This isn’t music I typically gravitate towards but it was a great diversion from what I normally listen to and I would listen to this album again soon!

yeah it's not bad

World Music revolves around this magnificent album.

I really wanted to like this but it never arrived where great a capella set should. The group is talented and well produced but there was a lack of progression and hooks in the music that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I don't have a lot of love for a capella works; I find them a little boring outside of the perfect harmonies. I guess that's the point, though, the harmonies. This is cool mostly because it's not some troop of goofy college kids singing silly songs. I don't understand most of it given that a lot of the songs aren't in English, but the harmonies are, in fact, perfect and the melodies are interesting and build on themselves in a non-traditionally western way. Anyway it's fine. It's still fundamentally a capella.

Just not my thing

Sure ain’t as good as the first album.

wasn't made for me and that's okay

Sounds relaxing with some soothing voices. 0/10 liked

A beautiful album, beautifully performed.

love those harmonies! Really glad they got attention after Graceland and put out this album. Just so different from most of what you hear but manages to captivate you.

A great album that is so unique. Love their work with Paul Simon on Graceland and it was really dope to hear them do their own thing. It does get a little samey BUT it’s just so different from everything else we’ve had and I’m grateful to find out it exists

Eine neue Welt damals… Heute ganz nett, entspannend zu hören…

you are capitalizing off my love of acapella groups! very chill--the songs all felt a little same-y but that just might be because I'm not used to the genre. Really gorgeous voices.

In. Like it. They're very good & have a large catalog to explore. As with most a cappella tho, it's a lot. This is tasteful & soulful & interesting. But okay already. How about a tight EP rather than a whole entire LP? Still tho it is quite good. Definitely worthy to throw into the random mix.

I am really glad albums like this are on the list, given that they are exactly the sort of thing that wouldn’t be on my radar to listen to otherwise. And the songs are beautifully sung and performed. That being said, every song started sounding very similar as the tracks went on, and by the end it just got kind of boring to listen to.

Love it! 1. Unomathemba 2. Hello My Baby 3. Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain

Really beautiful harmony singing. But a whole album? Language didn’t matter it sounded beautiful. But excessive. These guys should be performing only on presentations kind of things. Annoyed cause I had to listen on YouTube.

Liked the exotic a Cappella. However my Xosa is very limited so did not get the lyrics and music started to sound very samy.

Really surprised with this. Actually really enjoyed it probably a 3.5

Enjoyable. 3.5 stars

Not for me.

Pretty good background music for like, a safari or walking through the Africa section in Animal Kingdom. Don't see myself seeking it out otherwise.

background stuff but i really like the sound and the thickness of the voices. I find interesting the moments where the voices act like a stab synth, a kind of medúlla by björk thing haha. The ending of the album is more thrilling. No likes because it felt like and entire song

I really wanted to like this album, but, unfortunately I don’t. The chanting and voices sound incredible, but the songs don’t really change its patterns. They all sound similarly boring.

Very good for what it is, not something I would listen to organically but very beautiful

Very cool and well-executed but the forms of each song were very similar to eachother and was too repetitive to listen to as an album

What in the lion king beetlejuice is this. We reached kinda far for top 1000 albums.

Listened to it with my mom and she was a big fan #lisaapproved

Solid

I didnt know they had podcasts on this list wtf

I'm not sure if I listened to the right version of this but the vocal harmonies were soooo pretty and relaxing. Definitely needed to listen somewhere with nice bass

To jest coś nowego dla mnie, ale podobało mi się. Muzyka jest spokojna, relaksująca. Głosy są czarujące, nawet jeśli nie wiem o czym mówią. 3/5

Honestly, this is about as good as A Capella can get. Really makes appreciate those with vocal talent.

Turns out I like my South African a capella music in small doses like on Graceland and less for 40 minutes straight. It's very beautiful but not in my q zone

396/1089 - Samey and flat. At least mess with the reverb tail a little on the different songs to imply different spaces for the various subjects!

Very cool and interesting the ease which with they sing and play is relaxing and makes me want to understand what they are saying. This is a very talented group of musicians. Very different and indeed meritory pf being in this lost

I'd really love to give this album a 4. It maybe deserves even more than that. But at the end of the day, despite the pristine harmonies and relaxing vocals, most of the music is just too repetitive for me to want to come back to. There is no doubt that this album deserves to be on this list though, in fact, the list maybe needs even more albums like this. 3.5 Highlight: Hello My Baby

This was alright. About what I expected

African a capella choir, very calming

Fairly unremarkable.

Favorite songs: Unomathemba, King of Kings, Yibo Labo

This album is no longer on Spotify, so I had a heard tone finding it.

2,0/5

I had no idea what I was getting into with this one. After one song, okay, that's fine. Second track gets going, and oh, I guess this is just a whole album of African barbershop quartet. This is a lot like listening to gregorian chants for me: both are fascinating, take some talent, and have deep meaning. But unless it's in very small doses or combined with something else, I have no desire to listen to a whole album of it.

I kind of enjoyed this, and appreciated taking in something different to the assortment of mid-to-crap rock albums that I've been dealt with over the last week or so. A South African acapella album, the harmonies here are lucent, impassioned and catchy, even if the language barrier gets in the way. The voices layer on top of one another in a compelling way, giving the songs a degree of depth which belies its lack of instrumentation. I'm not sure how quickly I'll return to this, but I will at some stage.

There’s probably a place for this but I can tell you that being stuck in traffic on the A46 in the pissing rain is not that place. Boring.

Beautiful, but kinda boring. Loved Graceland and thought this was just kinda meh.

Oh. Ladysmith Black Mambazo is on here. I listened to them a bit after the Paul Simon stolen cultural appropriation album, but this is a good opportunity to revisit their music. There's something about simple choral music that makes it nice to listen to. It's not entirely gospel, but it is very positive music and just feels nice to listen to to mix it up. I certainly think that they're great, but it's not a real representation of African music. I do think they were thrown on here because Graceland is on here, but if I had to choose between the two, Shaka Zulu wins easily.

This is a very pleasant listen. There is something very uplifting in this style of african a capela. It is a lot of the same in the end, but it was a beautiful experience nontheless. 3.5/5

Thought I’d find this more interesting and compelling than I did

Wow, oh wow. What a beautiful gift to the world. Beautiful voices, beautiful melodies, and beautiful words. I had an extremely difficult day before I listened to this album and it brought me to tears more than once. All of the bad energy in me just dissipated and washed away with the harmonies and reverb. It invokes so many deep feelings in me that I so rarely get to feel. Each voice is so rich and buttery smooth. Despite the lack of instruments, I did not miss them at all. A lot of the songs sounded very similar, but it did not get boring at all. In fact, I was sad when I saw it was almost over. Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain was my favorite track. I see myself coming back to this album when I need to be silent but I don't want to be in silence. Just out in the headphones and let the voices carry me into another world. Easy 5/5. My favorite album so far in this journey.

GOING IN: No strong feelings LISTENED WHILE: morning commute FAMILIARITY: New to me SKIP RATE: Played it straight through REPLAY VALUE: Once was plenty DISCOVERY CURVE: Warmed up nicely ALBUM ARC: Strong start, tailed off VERDICT: Better than expected BODY'S VERDICT: Sitting nicely - Motionless appreciation FAVOURITE TRACK: My Rating: 3.5

3 - BAD

Fedt, også okay kedeligt indimellem - god afrikansk vibe

Fun to listen it’s amazing what people can do as a group

It is impossible not to be sway with delight to these rhythms and harmonies. I’ve these legends twice in recent years, including with I believe two original members now in their 70s or 80; they perform annually in my city (Berkeley, California.) Yes, it’s same-y, but it’s the same wonderful embrace all record long.

I'm sure this is good for what it is. It's just not really my vibe

Was not expecting to get this album today, but this was a very nice listen! The vocals were very beautiful along with the songs being very relaxing.

I immediately heard the inspiration and contribution that led to Paul Simon’s Graceland, an album I personally love. This album, while not bad at all, can only get me so far as a spoken word album that’s in a language I can’t understand. The harmonies and melodies are the music, which is very interesting…it’ll be playing in the background and you don’t even recognize there’s no instruments.

The kind of album that makes going through this list feel worthwhile. Yes I’ve the band backing Paul Simon on Graceland but I never would’ve thought to listen to a whole album of theirs

Nice but not interesting at all.

Fuck dis shi

Ok journey with this album has been: 1) god thats some good sounds 2) hmm these sounds are pretty similar to the earlier ones idk 3) i’m an idiot these are great and beautiful new sounds Gemma get it together Really loved king of kings and beautiful rain in particular. Not such a fan of how long and hello my baby but overall just a pretty beautiful record.

This was beautiful, love choirs and voices on mass, Wawusho Kubani? was my fave

What a lovely album to start the day with. I especially loved the harmonies on “How Long?”

Can I just say those voices are so lovely! I wasn’t really able to pick out individual songs too well but as a whole I really enjoyed listening to this.

No instruments sounds quite so beautiful as many harmonised voices. Unfortunately the songs didn’t overly interest me and I struggled to differentiate between them.

Nice

Pleasant enough but was a bit background-y for me after a while.

Inoffensive, but not for me. I am open minded when it comes to music. I even played some George Michael the other day. But this isn't part of my world. I recognise that it's important for others. But sometimes I just want to listen to some dumb rock 'n' roll and wave my willy in the air.

This is incredibly powerful. Playful at times but also painful and pleading. Sacred and beautiful. With the backdrop of South Africa in 1987. Magnificent.

I mean… sure, but I cannot imagine any scenario when I would wanna listen to this.

for a project that's supposed to be about the heritage of the Zulu people, this particular album of theirs sure does seem to be targeted to white people who want to feel "cultured"

I am at a total loss as to how I should approach this review and I have been sweating it all day. On the one hand, this is something completely foreign to me in an age where nearly every worldly experience is at my fingertips. On the other hand, I feel wholly unqualified to judge this listening experience as a result of it being curated randomly to me. This record of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an all-male South African a capella group creates a soft, pure, atmospheric listening experience. There are no instruments. There is no “production” - just the human voice and some foot stomping (at times) to accompany the organic structure of the music. This is so outside of my world that I can’t judge it on anything but my experience which is passive. Does it do what it sets out to do? Yes. Does it scratch some baseline human itch? Yes. Is it particularly memorable for me? No. Is it the best version of what it is? I can’t even begin to determine… primarily because 100% of my listening experience with South African all-male a cappella music is contained in this single album. I appreciate it for what it is and I can say nothing more. As a side note, having to listen to this music be broken up by toilet paper ads on YouTube (because it’s not on Spotify) was distracting.

Lady Smith Black Mambaz-no. This is not a style of music that I can get behind.

Not my cup of coffee

I’m glad this album was on the list so I could be exposed to music I wouldn’t seek out. But I found this really boring even though I tried hard to appreciate the soft harmonies. Tainted by Paul Simon.

A little on the boring side, but pleasant enough

This was one I hadn't heard and immediately fell in love with Heads up as of 1.22.2026 this was not available on streaming music platforms so I did just find it on YouTube 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wonderful - a deep restraint and beauty throughout. So much better than I expected. I'll be revisiting this.

Vond deze wel chill

This was fine, though I think listening to it at a latitude where it’s dark at 4 in the afternoon in January doesn’t help. Would I listen to it again? Probably not.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful album. So beautiful and I knew they sounded familiar when I found out they are the Graceland guys. Great stuff

Pretty immediately recognized these guys from Graceland. Their harmonies are so so tight. Only problem is, despite being an a cappella person, I can only take so much a cappella music at once.

3.3 It was enjoyable. Not really my usual things, and I'm glad it was only half an hour but it was a peaceful half an hour. It's an interesting style, and hard to dislike. Probably one of two vocal-only albums on this list and it was a lot more enjoyable than Bjorks tbf.

60s African beats to honor the traditions and create a new harmony.

A bold and unique flare comes with this. Shaka Zulu explores a multitude of themes through Acapella. This album is strongest in it's Zulu tracks, layering on metaphors that dealt with the various struggles associated with living in Apartheid South Africa as Black South Africans. There's nothing standout here, though the stomping on the last track was a definite highlight for me. A definitive album that I'm glad to have heard even if I needed to translate it.

Like many, I'm familiar with this group mostly through Paul Simon's Graceland (and the wonderful exclamation in The Venture Brothers). This was cool, I don't think it's something I could listen to over and over again, but it was definitely cool.

The harmonies are great, but I found myself wishing there was a little more variation in terms of accompaniment; even some percussion. (Note; listened to 2017 "remake", as could not find original)

Nope

This album is such a treat and I wish this list had more things like this that are beyond the concept of Western European music.

Quite enjoyable South African sound.

Kind of a vibe even tho I didn’t understand it

Wouldn’t reach for it but liked it for upbeatish but not distracting gym music.

Yeah gorgeous! I love this. I think this summer I've been given a lot of angry rock albums and something more in this vibe is what I'm after. My apologies to Linkin Park et al that I have been reviewing negatively.

These guys were pretty amazing, and it makes me think about the 1991 "Concert in the Park." Special combination of voices.

this is very cool. you literally can hear the paul simon influence.

It was soothing and a bit repetitive, but I didn’t dislike it. I dont see myself revisiting tho

Very much reminded me of Paul Simon and then it turned out that’s because they featured on an album from when I was small. Or perhaps even before that. Good facts.

Aldri hørt om denne gruppen før, men de ble visst nok kjent verdenskjent etter å ha sunget på Paul Simons Graceland. Sjangeren isicathamiya. Enklere sagt en form for afrikansk a capella. Et realt mannekor. Må dessverre meddele at det blir litt tynn suppe for en som er glad i litt fart og catchy rytmer. Skal likevel ha stjerne i boka for hvor behagelig det er å lytte til. Dessuten stilig med de tidvise Løvenes Konge-vibbene. For øvrig vanskelig å plukke ut de tre beste sangene her, da det er mye som er veldig likt her. Top 3: Golgotha; Unomathemba; Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain

bueni simio

This was painful

Very soothing

Fun album to have on the list. I'm always for diversity in all forms and the same goes for music! Definitely not used to listening to vocal-only type of music, and it's not the "instrument" I find most interesting. Still, the harmonies are impressive and interesting. Everything is tied together with a nice reverb, which enhances the spiritual feeling I get from this album. Nothing I will listen to much probably, but nice to have heard!

“Hey, this sounds a lot like the choral part of Graceland! Is that racist that I think all African choirs sound the same? Oh it’s the same band, phew”. I enjoyed this, it was different and built up on some of the best parts of Graceland. It feels typical for this list that the only African choral album is one where a western artist worked with them. Maybe not something I’d put on by my self but worth a listen. Going for a weak 4. I realized now I didn’t give Graceland a 5 which is quite odd looking back at it...

Beautiful stuff from the fellas.

Worthy, with a beauty but dull.

Makes me want to listen to Paul Simon

Neat album. Cool sounds. Great voices.

I know there is lore here that makes people think this is a masterpiece. Its not for me. Did I listen to this album? No, I dont own it and its not on streaming. Did I listen to the remake of it from 2017? Yes I did with headphones in while lying in bed. I thought it was soothing and interesting but I will never listen to it again. Unsure if I needed to hear this before I inevitably croak.

# Album Name: Shaka Zulu # Artist: Ladysmith Black Mambazo # Rating: # Comments: 2/5 Nice vocals and harmony. Was alright. Not the kind of thing i would listen to for 30 mins so gets marked down. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

Paul?

I love the ambience of this album, it’s super soothing and so well-produced! May not revisit much but it’s very good!

feels like a hard album to rate in the context of this list lol but it was pretty good eh

Seminal album but not my music at all

In lack of better understanding of this kind of music I would describe it as African choir music. I like it but not for the length of a whole album.

Loved it

Very nice

Nice album of South Africa rhythms and probably their most accessible album. Feels like this only happened on the back of Graceland and Paul Simon did produce this records. A bit too samey for my taste.

#815. I don't really like this kind of shit at all. There's like a 50/50 chance that it being in an unintelligible (to me) foreign language makes it more tolerable, but that didn't really work out this time, still sucked. 2/5: nah

Beautiful. Not something I would listen to, however, if I'm honest.

I listened to this one back when it came out. Hearing it again with more years behind me, I'd say I liked it more. I liked each song individually (the English lyric ones a bit less), but as a whole it suffers somewhat from repetition. Not sure what could have been done about that since mostly traditional acapella is what they do. I'd give it a 3 1/2 if we could half, since it is better than my typical 3, but not quite a usual 4 for me.

This was an enjoyable world album. But after awhile it started to sound the same.

Tenk at det ikke e en eneste dame involvert i Ladysmith, dét hadde æ ikke trodd! Men sånn bortsett fra det va det ikke så verst.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

I was really enjoying it, but then I thought it slightly overstayed its welcome?

Paul Simon production can't save this one-note album. A few nice harmonies but LBM always seemed to be too safe to be interesting.

Exceptional album. Soothing to the soul.

i have a history or hating choir kids since most of choir kids i have engaged with are fucking annoying. but my moot (i personally hear myself reading that in a borat accent) is a choir kid and was in the school a cappella club during high school. but anyway im a theatre kid turned stagehand but the flair persists, so i think i shouldnt be hating on choir kids, as the outsiders may percieve them and theatre kids as similarly annoying. and my moot's one of the best person i ever met online. and also on a prior conversation, he said that he likes paul simon, who happens to produce the album. enough ranting. honestly this is kinda mid? like cultrual differences and stuffs makes me not that being able to like this album, but the harmonies are sometimes nice. like everything just floats by without leaving any impression to me. i might like graceland more despite all these claims of cultrual appropriation. gonna forward it to my moot and ask what he thinks. 3/5

it was so nice to get something completely different today, enjoyed listening to this in the afternoon sun 3.5

Wow! This was beautiful. I remember in late 1980s/early 1990s there was a huge insurgence of African music, mostly led by Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. I always found it to be interesting, though I always wondered whether it was homage or assimilation. Listening to this album now I feel spiritually rejuvenated. I don’t know if that’s the right term, but almost felt like a religious experience. I don’t know if I’m the right person to judge this, and I’m pretty sure I’m not. But I really did enjoy this today.

Random thoughts: * I'm familiar with Ladysmith from both Paul Simon and my appreciation of music class in college. * This is quite fun to listen to and is a huge change of pace. * It is so unique it is hard to rate against more pop and rock offerings on this list of albums. * I would like to revisit this again and hopefully this reminds me to.

I’d heard the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but I couldn’t remember where or why I knew I recognized the name. Then my good, reliable friend, the internet, told me they were a South African male choir who sang on the Graceland album by Paul Simon. Talk about an album you need to hear before you die. Well, I think Shaka Zulu is another album to hear before you die. As soon as the first note hit, I knew I was going to like this album. It’s hard to explain, but this album gives you a bit of understanding of how most American music came from the music of Africans who were brought to this country as slaves. It’s very spiritual, it just has a feeling about it. You can see where gospel music came from and the blues, jazz, even rock and roll. The album is purely a capella, no instruments that I can hear, which for me is hard to do. I’m not a big a cappella fan, but this album is a joy to listen to. To me, most a cappella sounds bland, but this has soul and is like no a cappella I’ve heard before. Wikipedia said that this was probably the group’s most commercially accessible record, though the songs were just re-recorded versions of their older “hits.” It also helps that this album came out after Graceland, in which the group made themselves known to a world of new fans. The album was produced by Paul Simon, explaining the more commercially accessible sound. Usually, I do some work at my desk as I listen to these albums for the first time. With Shaka Zulu, many times I stopped just to sit and listen. It seemed every few minutes I heard something that caught my fancy. Things like tongue clicking, a nice bass sound, and an interesting melody. Just an amazing album. Now, all that being said, will I be listening to this non-stop for the rest of time? Probably not. Though it is a good album to sit with and relax. I think this is an album worth hearing before you die because I’d wager you haven't heard much music more interesting than Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

2.5 I heard two Ladysmith Mambazo references this week after never hearing the name uttered once in my life. This isnt something that floats my boat to listen to again.

Glad this was included because they have a very unique sound. Very hypnotic to listen to but I don’t find myself wanting to come back to it much yet.

A great album which only misses out on a 5 because about halfway through my ears have had enough of the same notes being repeated too many times in each song. 4.5

Biting my tongue to try and not make fun of white South Africans in this review, so I will keep this short. Yeah, everyone in this are beautifully talented - but I got the gist of this real quick. I get it boys, you harmonise and hum a lot. That's about the whole extent of this thing. I guess I just generally don't like music from South Africa. But this is at least tolerable, Afrikaans music sucks even worse.

Beautiful vocals, but quite repetitive. Probably great reading music for whenever you decide to dig into your copy of the bible. Making the second track the highlight for me cause it reminded me of the theme song for Swords & Sandals II: Gladiators, the greatest flash game of all time. Highlights: Hello My Baby

Beautiful harmonies resonating deeply and transporting you to a different cultural place.

Not offensive but not my bag

A soundtrack to Simba dying on the Lion King

Day 131 Lovely harmonies, really enjoyed this one. Highlights Golgotha King of Kings

A bit too chill

These guys can sing their asses off and have some beautiful harmonies. That being said, I don't know that I "enjoy" listening to this album. I don't feel I have the proper context to evaluate it fairly. I basically never listen to acapella choral music and, thus, have no frame of reference.

Very beautiful harmonies. I do like Paul Simon's Graceland so this was an enjoyable album to hear the band with their own music. Don't think it's 5* as I did feel like I wanted some music in the end

Beautiful album, a showcase for the beauty of human voices.

Glad I heard it once because of how unit is but not something that I would ever seek out on my own.

Graceland? Nice.

I think this is the group that played on Graceland with Paul Simon.

African shit

It is impressive, and good to hear music from other parts of the world. That being said, I dont know when I would want to listen to Lion King soundtrack a cappella.

Beautiful voices and harmony. So chill.

Surprisingly pleasant

Really good, smooth and transporting. I bought the vinyl it was so good. Hard to find the original digital now

It's just an African Gospel choir? I've heard better ones.

7/10… a capella / afro pop / *1987

The last thing you hear in full consciousness as the DMT loaded ayahuasca takes over. The tribe leader is explaining something but you no longer understand, you've drifted off into a trance and now think the songs from the tribe are some demonic calls as you start panicking. Shortly, you will throw up all over yourself and life will never be the same again, you will rediscover yourself, you'll be reinvented, reincarnated, rejuvenated, retarded. By the way, I kept waiting for paul simon to start singing but he never does. 2,5, best track was probably rain rain beautiful rain.

Different but in a good way.

Very beautiful acappela singing. Tough to get in to since I don't understand the lyrics.

This was very interesting! I think my favourite part of this project has been discovering the various world music entries that come around every now & then, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo is certainly one of them. They're very recognisable from Paul Simon's work but I had no idea until today who they were or that they had their own discography. Good stuff.

A nice relaxing album

Started off listening to the 30th anniversary version that’s on streaming but then learned it is actually a re-recording. Which I found to be a big relief because the original version has a much more intimate sound that I much prefer. I was not vibing with the more sterile sounding re-recording and I was not on board with the kissing sounds on hello my baby. I recommend seeking out the original for this listen

I was hesitant to compare this to Paul Simon's Homeless (and the rest of the Graceland record) because it can be racist to equate all of a country's music to a stereotype. But nope, turns out these are literally the same people. I still have Graceland to thank as a sort of gateway into Shaka Zulu. The opener, Unomathemba, might've turned me away if I'd listened to it five years ago. But here, it comes across as warm, beautiful... and familiar. That element of familiarity is something seriously underappreciated in the psychology of music enjoyment. Unfortunately, that enjoyment doesn't last as long as I'd like. After the first couple tracks, you definitely start to yearn for something more exotic, texture-wise. Even some simple percussion would go a long, long way in up-tempo songs such as Golgotha and Lomhlaba Kawunoni (The Earth Never Gets Fat). Also, the commitment to an extremely limited harmonic palate – only using chords I, IV, and V for the album's entire duration – also limits audiences' ability to remain engaged. I have a complaint like this for quite a lot of world music, which suggests that either I'm not familiar enough with music from that region to notice all the musical intricacies and development, or (more likely) the music really is just that simple and I didn't grow up with it enough to enjoy 40 minutes of it. I also get the feeling some of the other reviewers are virtue-signalling their enjoyment of the album. 2/5 Key tracks: Unomathemba, Rain Rain Beautiful Rain

Homeless is constantly in my head. Vibey album.

The whole album sounded like one song...

This album is from a South African men’s a cappella group, who became popular here after Paul Simon featured them on his Graceland album. A few of the tracks are done in English. The music has a gospel vibe to it, and is easy to listen to.

These guys came to USC when I was there! I had never heard of them so it was a real surprise to find out they were actually famous after the fact. Anyway, I'm not gonna be mad at Zulu acapella (or technically, isicathamiya, which is a little more overlap heavy I think), but I also have no idea what they're singing about (though, probably religious stuff if Jesu means what I think it does) and I don't have time to investigate, so there's a certain non-English ceiling. If it's anything like the English lyrics, maybe that's for the best. Well, I say, that, but, Highlight: when "hello my baby" and "i love my baby" merge into sounding the same as they're repeated enough (like my childhood favorite "it's eleven men/eleven minutes") :)

Uaktuelt å sitte og høre på acapella-smatting.

This album was a nice surprise. I'm usually not a fan of vocal only music. And in case you got a bloody acapella group, I tell you: Begone! These African melodies though have a certain calmness and dreamlike quality to them. Maybe that is the magic of not understanding the language. It was over faster than I wanted it. Which is great in itself!

Aaah, enfin quelque chose de différent que du Ouin! Ouin! 😭😭 de Indie rock de MARDE… pardonnez moi, la dernière semaine a été éprouvante

Going to do my best here. I hate a cappella music. It's my fault for engaging with this album while in traffic on the way to work. But the vocal arrangements were so the same throughout this thing. So many of the same melodic runs and almost everything feels like it's in the same key. This is a very interesting ethnomusicology entry on the list; the influence of Paul Simon producing a traditional Zulu album and everything that happens as a result of that is very interesting, but my enjoyment of this album is pretty low. I feel like I got it on the second song and then there was 40 more minutes of the same. 2 is too harsh but it's where I am.

only 3 songs in but I can't stand this not because of the music but the fucking smacking lip sounds of some of the members. not talking bout the xhosa (i think?) clicks, I'm talking someone in this group has too much spit in their mouth and it's fucking killing me. Also how many times do I have to hear some asshole sing 'baby'? I thought I'd at least kinda like this because of the Paul Simon connection and I loved the Miriam Makeba record from a long time ago, but nope. Feeling a 1 on this, but will revise if needed once I've made it through this thing

Pleasantly surprised by this. Had no idea what I'd be getting when putting it on but these guys have really great harmonies and make every song such easy listening. The songs themselves can get a little repetitive but I'm not too concerned about that, was a good listen from beginning to end. You can see why Paul Simon wanted them on Graceland.

No było to relaksujące i przyjemne, ale bardzo monotonne i nie odczuwałam, żeby było na wysokim muzycznym poziomie. Jako ciekawostka owszem. Ale żeby tego słuchać regularnie? 5/10

The original version has all but disappeared from streaming, there is a 30th anniversary rerecorded version called Shaka Zulu Revisited, which, alas, is an inferior version. This opens up a debate about the sanctity of physical media as a vital cultural safeguard and a commitment to permanence, integrity, and the unassailable right of the artist's original creation to exist unaltered.

Wow, this was an awesome album! I loved this and immediately started the album over once it was finished.

Really really liked this, never heard anything like it.

Best Song: Ikhaya Lamaqhawe. I don't know what I liked most about this song, beyond the tone and emotion of the lead singer. Worst Song: Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain. I liked the chorus, but the verses felt too much like a children's song. Overall: Their voices are great, but there is a certain "softness" that starts to feel grating after a point. I get that the a capella is half the point, but it did feel like they would be really benefitted by some backing music.

Great harmonies.

enjoyed!

Beautiful voices and harmonies. Very unique pick and glad I got to broaden my music taste

Day694 - it’s hard to hear this without thinking about graceland.

It's hard for me to listen to this without crying, and I'm not sure why that is. I think it is just because it is so beautiful, the way they gel together, the way the bass voices are smooth like butter and the top voices spring to life. It feels like gospel but stripped to its roots, yet intricate and elevated to a heavenly status. I prefer the non-English songs to the English ones, I guess because it adds a certain mystery and the English listener can but their own interpretation on it. Christgau refers to a lyric sheet which translates the non-English numbers, but I haven't found this online. I'll need to grab a physical copy of this and listen again.

the description was promising but i didn't find anything interesting for me here

Pleasant but very very mellow

Very glad I'm familiar with Ladysmith Black Mambazo now. I didn't realize this but they're more famous than I knew... they're the band Lindsey Lohan skips in Mean Girls "But you love Ladysmith Black Mambazo?!?" haha. My take away is that this is probably the best harmonizing band of all time. It's a bit more like a choir than boy band but they sound better than Eagles/Queen/Fleet Foxes/etc. They're featured on Paul Simon's 'Graceland' album and sound like the backing band for the Lion King intro haha.

4+/5

There's few better sounds in the world than this band. However the songs aren't as good as the performance

5/10

It’s cool

Just a very boring album

If you liked Gravelsnd but not Paul Simon, this would be perfect.

This is a really lovely record and an interesting historical artifact. Graceland was a huge Paul Simon hit, and these folks were featured on that record. On the tour, they opened as themselves, and then played with Paul Simon. I think that tour, and this record, plus Graceland, really opened things up in terms of world music and the appreciation of the quality and realization of the variety of music out there. Peter Gabriel famously championed world music with WOMAD and Paul Simon brought it to a broader audience.

Nothing I would listen to purposefully but it was alright

harmonies are gorgeous but kinda boring atm idk. yeah no this album did not captivate me. i like that its a different sound and genre to the other albums on this list, but i wish there was some attempt at making this more adventurous. just not for me i fear

I don’t know if this is good or not. I do know it is boring.

High 3, super nice listening

I'm no expert on African music; I think I know the basic differences between mbube and isicathamiya, but don't ask me a) to give any definitive thoughts on them or b) how to pronounce them. I *do* know that, in my pretty limited forays outside "Western" genres, African music tends to hit me on a more emotional level than music from other countries/regions. There are moments on this record where the beauty of LBM's voices really resonate with me, and I find it to be a pleasant listen on the whole. That said, I don't foresee it being an album that I return to on any regular basis, and I would be lying if I said that, despite my genuine enjoyment, it has sparked a flame in me to immediately dive deeper into this style of music. 3/5

Sí. Escucha obligatoria. África no es Paul Simon, por mucho que Graceland fuera un álbum genial. Ni tampoco el imprescindible Fela Kuti. Música coral, con alma desde la inicial Unomathemba. No fueron unos aprovechados, ni flor de un día, más de 70 discos y 5 Grammys para los bueyes negros. Música sin instrumentos ni percusión, algo que parece impensable en África y que , sin embargo transmite emociones como si fuera sencillo.

Interesting album, but not something I'm super interested in listening to again.

Listen again? No thanks

Never listened to something like this before, interesting but idk if I will seek out more like this

classic SA again.

Cool harmonies. Likely won't revisit but respect it from a distance. It says something that this is on the list likely because Paul Simon opened them up to a larger audience and not because, y'know, people who aren't white make music too and it's frequently not co-signed by legends.

A tough one for Karaoke...

Very atmospheric

Good to see some more diverse music on the list and whilst I have heard of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and listened to Graceland, I’d never previously listened to one of their albums. It’s unlikely I’d choose to revisit but it’s a perfectly good listen and it’s easy to understand why people like this and why it was included on the list.

Couldn’t find it to listen to

This was a really nice album that I don’t want to hear in its entirety again. They have an incredible grasp on harmonizing and arranging, but so much of the songs start to sound the same after a while. Also, every so often there was a mouth noise that just kind of skeeved me out. Don’t take any of this as too harsh of criticism, it’s a great A Cappella album, it just wears your patience down too.

Beautiful a cappella singing, and really distinctive. Highly recommend seeing them live -- but after 30 minutes, it's all the same. Same for this album.

Mostly just African singing, which is not bad, but I wouldn't really listen to this again.

If you’re one of those people that don’t like foreign albums because you can’t understand a word, then this must be your hell because this album is nothing but vocals. Ok, jokes aside, that was pretty good despite being ultra repetitive. Truth be told, I think the repetitiveness is part of the design. You take it in as more traditional African music rather than Pentatonix and it starts to just blend itself in. It’s all in the harmonies, which all sound beautiful. It transcends any need of understanding the language; you can feel it in their music. Add some of Paul Simon’s production and it’s a pretty solid album. Favorite track: Hello My Baby Other hits: Golgotha, How Long, King of Kings, Ikhaya Lamaqhawe, Wawusho Kubani, Unomathemba

After Graceland we'd had our ears opened to this type of folk, a cappella sound. It is something of a best of album as well as they re-recorded many of the songs for this release. Personally, I would trade the haunting sound for a bit of drums.

Really peaceful and nice listen. Can't say I noticed anything besides just vicing with it.

Hypnotic. Oh it's the group that worked with Paul Simon. Very nice. Would benefit from some more variety.

Nor my type of music although I am familiar with the artists work.

Two starts to mean fine, inoffensive, nothing exciting.

I'm sorry, but this is call-and-response singing on an endless loop. I can't and won't listen to it. I didn't want to hear Paul Simon when he first made this stuff popular. I find 'The Lion King' irritating in every form and incarnation. This seems to me to be the essence of it all. I can't stand this music, never liked it, and never will.

No objections from me on this one. While I don't gravitate towards this type and style of music on a regular basis, I enjoyed it nonetheless. The acapella harmonies are incredible.

Man, there's something so satisfying about acapella harmonies like this. Such an enjoyable listen.

Pretty beautiful vocal arrangements here and love the rich textures of all the voices. Listened on 11/4/25

It's like the beginning of The Lion King on loop

Not for miu

Great a cappella vocals

106/1089 this is a prime example of why i’m doing this project. I love to hear music from different cultures and this acapella folk album from South Africa is a perfect candidate for that. It’s just a really warm and friendly record and a relaxing listen. The score/rating feels irrelevant for this one. I enjoyed my time with it and that’s enough. it’s a bit too relaxed and choral/gospel-ish for me to want to return to it and it blended together quite a bit which is nice for a full run through but meant there wasn’t really standouts for me 49/100

Great

++: Golgotha, King of Kings, How Long?, Yibo Labo, Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, Wawusho Kubani? +: Unomathemba, Hello My Baby, Lomhlaba Kawunoni, Ikhaya Lamaqhawe 7,0/10

This is why I go through what feels like endless Bowie and Morrissey.

This reminds me very much of the vocal harmonies sung by Polynesian peoples - for me personally that's memories of Fijian friends. So easy to get lost in and carried away by, and not for a moment do I feel like anything is missing despite it being entirely a capella. Much like Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Ros, I don't understand the words they're singing and I don't feel I need to.

Unomathemba - 4/5 Hello My Baby - 3/5 At Golgotha - 4/5 King of Kings - 4/5 The Earth Is Never Satisfied - 4/5 How Long? - 3/5 Home of the Heroes - 4/5 These Are the Guys - 2/5 Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain - 3/5 Who Were You Talking To? - 3/5 Average score: 3.4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I asked the internet what tea was popular in South Africa and the answer was rooibos tea (pronounced roy-boss). Anyway, Shaka Zulu is not my cup of rooibos tea.

Kind of magical, but not my jam.

I'm probably uncultured and biased towards Western music for this but it felt like the filler music of The Lion King...I just didn't get it. Tracks to Track: Unomathemba

Not my thing. Too boring.

It’s ok man

I was grooving to this!

Don’t generally care for African music, but this was pretty decent.

I’m never mad about some LBM, but I also never feel like I need to hear 45 straight minutes of it, either. Boy, I sure hope no washed-up singer songwriters exploit this group and somehow also end up on this list! (Foreshadowing!)

Made me want to watch Coming To America

Not for me

Favorite Track: Rain, Rain Beautiful Rain

Soothing and calm. Feeling pretty chill now.

Solid listen.

Solid enough.

⭐️⭐️ 1001 ALBUMS-# 95 🌎 World Beats 🌎 Interesting that I should land back to back World music albums the last two days, this one not impressing me as much…very Lion King vibes here 🦁. The album showcases isicathamiya, a Zulu a cappella style characterized by: Deep, resonant bass lines, Smooth call-and-response patterns, Gentle foot movements (“tiptoeing”) — part of the performance’s tradition, Rich harmonies and spiritual warmth. Paul Simon’s production also gives it a polished sound without losing authenticity, helping it cross into Western and global markets. Shaka Zulu is built entirely on the human voice, but the variety and depth make it feel orchestral. The group layers bass, tenor, and falsetto harmonies with effortless precision, creating a texture that’s both meditative and joyful. 🎧 Classic Track: Unomathemba 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: All tracks flow together The album is a spiritual experience. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing about: Faith and perseverance in times of struggle (“Unomathemba,” “How Long?”). Love and community (“Hello My Baby”). Reflection and redemption (“At Golgotha,” “King of Kings”). Connection to nature and the divine (“Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain”). It’s music of peace and dignity in a time (the late apartheid era) when South Africa was deeply fractured. 🖼️ Album Artwork: African Pride Shaka Zulu may be more than an album as a cultural milestone as it carries the soul of Zulu tradition, the spirituality of gospel, and the universal language of harmony. Nearly four decades later, it still sounds timeless. Having said that, it didn’t move me personally in a way that would have me revisiting it.

This is why I am doing this project - to discover albums like this. Immensely enjoyable. Becomes a bit repetitive in spots but held my attention throughout…the kind of album that makes me want to build a dedicated home music theater to enjoy it the way it should be enjoyed. 4/5

~this album was not available on Spotify so this review is for their album Imbongi~ The chants did have a mesmerizing sound but there was just something missing to really set it apart.

Really beautiful.

I'm probably like most others, I only know of this group because they were featured on Paul Simon's Graceland. I suppose this kind of thing scratches an itch but am I ever going to have that itch? I was skipping through the songs and I couldn't tell the difference.The next song always sounded like it was part of the song I just skipped. I skipped through 5-6 songs thinking it could have been the same song.

Very chill

(2.5) feeling spiritual

Like a nice warm massage for the soul

Fun, but most songs start sounding the same after awhile.

Lively and interesting. Don’t think it will make the rotation but a worthy listen.

I’ve never listened to this group outside of Paul Simon’s Graceland. Shocked to see that they formed in 1960.

Afrikkalaista maailmanmusiikkia. Propsit erikoisuudesta, levy oli (lähes) täysin acapella viimeistä kappaleesta jossa tuli hiukan rytmiä taputuksista ja tömistelystä. Tästä myös pisteet, koska toi pienen mielenkiintoisuuden käänteen loppuun. Mutta muuten levy ei valitettavasti tarjonnut mitään minulle. Kappaleet kuullosti aika samoilta. Parhaat: Wawusho Kubani? - Who Were You Talking To?

Interesting addition, like the vibe, but not an acapella fan and the sound tends to be too samey across songs

I like a cappela music, so this was a fun listen. There is so much going on culturally and historically in this album, it's hard to talk about it all.

Ganske streit, egentlig

It's background music, not only b/c LBM famously backed Paul Simon on his seminal Graceland, but b/c it's music of the background, to be preciser. That is, the songs comprise a world unto themselves, a world at a distance from our own and yet too full to be intangible or abstract. These a cappella performances overflow w/ a meticulous peace, and tho there are elements of despair and joy, trouble and celebration, the main ingredient is stability, a settledness and serenity equipped w/ a vital outlet. Chanting is repetitious by nature, but no track here wants a necessary variety. My only fuss is that the accessibility of the record is finally a bit soft, so that, over the course of an entire album, the tranquility it offers wanes from robust to kinda wimpy.

bit too dull for me

I very much appreciate what they do. Their introduction to the world by Paul Simon felt like a little miracle at the time. Such subtle and beautiful sounds. A whole album all feels a little samey-samey for me. It’s a nice bonus when they show up somewhere else. A single song - wonderful. A whole album - hard to be excited or engaged by it for the full 45 minutes of the 30th anniversary version that was available to me on streaming. I think there was only one additional track, so basically the same as the original.

Just not my type of music

Nice harmonies and it’s easy to the ears. However, it’s very samey, both across the album and within each track. No variation at all

Can’t be dealing with acapella but at least it wasn’t by annoying drama students doing pop songs this time

Tribal chanting. Atmospheric but wouldn’t relisten

Great Songs: Good Songs: Lomhlaba Kawunoni (The Earth Never Gets Fat), Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain Mid Songs: Unomathemba, Hello My Baby, Golgotha, How Long?, Ikhaya Lamaqhawa (Home of the Heroes), Yibo Labo (These Are The Guys), Wawusho Kubani? (Who Were You Talking To?) Bad Songs:

Very pleasing to the ear. Not much of a departure from what had already been heard of them on Paul Simon's "Graceland". I've wondered in the past about whether this type of vocal music is common among their people, or if Ladysmith Black Mambazo were a unique musical entity. Now I know.

There’s certainly talent in blending all these voices together. But I couldn’t get into it. 5/10

Really beautiful music, especially appealed to me because of my own experience singing in choirs. However, because it was so stripped back, I found that a whole albums worth in one go made the songs a little tricky to differentiate. I think I would have preferred to only listen to a couple at a time.

# 581: Shaka Zulu Shaka Zulu – Technically Brilliant, Emotionally Meh This one’s not for me. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it—I just kind of endured it. I remember people getting very excited about this back in the '90s, but listening now, it’s more “respectful nod” than “standing ovation.” It’s unique, mostly a cappella, and the performances are undeniably tight. These guys are very good at what they do. But good technique doesn’t always equal a good time. I struggled to get through it, and not once did I feel the urge to hit replay. The best thing about it? It’s short. Half an hour and done. Like a polite guest who knows when to leave. Verdict: ★★ for skill. File under “albums you admire more than enjoy.”

interesting album, can't get into it when I don't understand lyrics