The members of the group Golden Sounds were active-duty soldiers in the Cameroonian Presidential Guard.
They originally created the song and its frantic dance steps to boost the morale of their fellow troops during grueling military training camps.
The lyrics are written in a mix of Fang (a major Central African language), Dualá, and Cameroonian Pidgin English. The vocabulary heavily reflects the slang used by West African soldiers during the colonial era and World War II:
The core phrase “Zanga lewa” is a Pidgin contraction of the Fang phrase “Za anga loe wa?”, which literally translates to “Who called you?” or “Who told you to come?”
The song is a playful, self-deprecating chant sung by low-ranking soldiers or recruits. It is a direct critique of military enlistment, where a tired soldier looks at his grueling conditions and asks himself:
“Who told me to join the army? Nobody forced me, I chose to come, so now I have to endure it.”
“Waka Waka” comes from the Pidgin English phrase “Walk walk”, meaning to move forward, march, or keep doing your job aggressively.
In 2010, Shakira released “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” as the official song for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The song heavily sampled the entire chorus and rhythmic framework of Zangalewa.