Lebo M lawsuit over ‘Lion King’ chant sparks debate

A cultural expert and the general public voiced their thoughts and reactions to a lawsuit by comedian Lebo M against fellow comedian Learnmore Jonasi, whom he accused of intentionally "mistranslating" the famous Lion King opening chant he composed.

Musa Xulu, an expert on Zulu language and heritage, viewed the comedian's comment as a form of expression, rather than a disrespect to Zulu culture.

“I don't think it even affects the Zulu heritage like that. I think it was supposed to say, here comes the king, all those praises, I don't remember it very correctly, but all those praises they say on that song? "Nantsi Ingonyama”, here comes the lion. It's pretty much the same thing. The king, the lion is also the king in that context of the movie. The lion is the king. So that guy, maybe because he's a comedian, he was making like a bit fun,” Xulu said.

The general public also had the same thoughts, with others elaborating on what Xulu had said about “Ingonyama,” meaning here comes the lion.

Livingstone Khoarai, who is a resident in Johannesburg, said, “I don't think Lebo M should be suing that much money because that's a lot of money for an average comedian to have that much money is really impossible. It's a lot of money to get hold of and it's not easy and I don't think he tenderised to make the comic (joke) to be like bad to us the culture or anything. It was just a moment thing.”

Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mistranslating the chant, which launches the 1994 Disney movie and is central to stage versions as well as Disney’s 2019 remake.

The dispute, which has gone viral as the two men challenge each other on social media, stems from statements Jonasi made in his stand-up routines and in a recent podcast interview, where he translated the song’s lyrics from Zulu and Xhosa, two of South Africa’s 12 national languages.

"Mocking" the chant or simple comedic joke?

The lawsuit was filed this month in federal court in Los Angeles, where Morake, who performs as Lebo M, lives and where Jonasi recently performed. It accuses Jonasi of intentionally mocking “the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations.”

Disney’s official translation of the opening phrase “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” is “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.” “Hay! baba, sizongqoba,” the chant continues.

It translates to “Through you we will emerge victoriously,” according to Morake.

In the episode of One54, cited in the lawsuit, the podcast’s Nigerian hosts initially sing the chant with incoherent and incorrect words. Jonasi corrects them and says, “That’s not how you sing it, don’t mess up our language like that.”

Jonasi then sings the correct lyrics in Zulu. When asked, he says they translate to: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god.”

The hosts burst out laughing, saying that they had previously thought the chant was something more “beautiful and majestic.”

“Circle of Life,” with music by Elton John and English-language lyrics by Tim Rice, came up in the broader context of Jonasi’s critique of “The Lion King” franchise as profiting off of simplistic narratives about the African continent for non-African audiences.