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Michael Jackson's "mama se mama sa mama coosa"

These words might well be the most intruiging lyrics from your childhood. Michael repeats them over and over again at the end of Wanna be startin' somethin' from the iconic Thriller album. But what do they mean actually?


He stole them!

In the Jackson song, they don't really mean anything. They just sound good in the metrum.

Originally, they come from the song "Soul Makossa", by a funky-ass saxophone player from Cameroon: Manu Dibango, released in 1972. "Makossa" is a music style that was born in Cameroon and mixed African and Western influences. Michael just changed the pronunciation a little.

Dibango sued Jackson's ass for this theft and eventually they "made an arrangement" to settle the affair. Stealing is BAD, Michael...



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