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Pitbull's cover of Toto's Africa is everything you want and far, far less

  • December 13, 2018
  • Popjustice

Pitbull's got a shit­maz­ing song on the new Aquaman soundtrack. It's called Ocean To Ocean — a title that does nothing to hint at the delights that lie within. In short: it's Toto's Africa. 

The song is, you might argue, an impress­ive feat: there's barely any intro, then it's just verse / chorus / verse / chorus / verse / chorus-chorus / THE END. No prechorus, no post­chorus, no middle eight, no outro, all done in less than two and a half minutes with a Banksy reference thrown in along the way. 

It sounds a bit like you'd imagine being tasered might feel. 

Notes Pitbull (via EW.com):

“The ocean, the sea and any body of water, to me, is true freedom. The ocean has always been the border from where my parents came from Cuba and the United States, which gives us freedom. That’s why I respect water. Bottom line: water gives us freedom.”

Outstanding scenes. (Pitbull actually covered the point about his parents with a little more panache in 2017's Freedom.)

The best bit of all this is that the song's arrived at least one year too late to really ride Africa's meme-fuelled re-entry into the zeitgeist — so late in fact that it feels entirely coin­cid­ental, as if Pitbull exists in his own cultural ecosystem.

  • Jesus fucking Christ
  • pitbull
  • Respect water
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£60 for one song twice, all over by 9:15: the perfect night out

  • December 11, 2018
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The Zayn album, for those in a hurry

  • December 16, 2018
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  • 1
    Congratulations to Charli XCX and Lorde: winners of the 2024 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize
  • 2
    The 2024 Twenty Quid Music Prize: Shortlist
  • 3
    The 2023 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: Shortlist
  • 4
    Fine, let's do a Substack then.
  • 5
    The 2022 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: shortlist
  • 6
    2021 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: Laura Mvula wins
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