Tyler ICU’s hit single “Mnike” has taken the internet by storm since its release back in April.
Not only has it dominated the local radio charts, it’s also exploded into a global hit single with thousands of videos created weekly using the audio on TikTok.
As the song inches closer and closer to becoming the best streaming amapiano song ever, an American TikTok user shared a video with her followers in which she insinuated that the song’s lyrics are ungodly.
“This lady says she Google translated M’nike lyrics and it’s an evil song 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣,” shared @thuli_zl in a post that has been viewed almost two million times.
This lady says she Google translated Mnike lyrics and it’s an evil song 😭
— Thuli (@thuli_zl) July 3, 2023
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/N7m9TcW9BW
“Be careful what you’re listening to in other languages because you don’t know what they’re saying,” she started. “I’ve been seeing this song all over TikTok, ‘M’Nike’ by Tyler ICU and I see everyone post about the song.
“But I was listening to it yesterday and my spirit, I don’t know why, but it went really funny. So I just got the thought to look up the words.” She then puts up a screenshot of the lyrics directly translated to English.
“The song is Zulu and it’s translated to English here,” she said.
Tweeps noted how the literal translation on Google Translate distorts the actual meaning.
“Everyone’s dancing to it and everyone’s having a great time to it. I’m a Christian and I do believe that there’s life and death in the power of the tongue.”
“I listen to a lot of afrobeats, Brazilian music, Spanish music so I’m gonna start looking up all the words and the English translations.
“The power of what you say is more powerful than you know, so I caution everybody please, please, please be mindful.”
Mzansi Twitter has been responding with humour and indignation at the post.
“Google translate is mostly wrong though 😂😂,” commented @seuthati_s.
Google translate is mostly wrong though 😂😂
— Mrs N (@seithati_s) July 4, 2023
“When you do a literal translation of most if not all African language to English, the meaning gets lost,” added @megafuntweets.
“You need to understand the nuances and context to get the message. Don’t forget we have words or phrases that can mean multiple things depending on the context.”
When you do a literal translation of most if not all African language to English, the meaning gets lost. You need to understand the nuances and context to get the message. Don’t forget we have words or phrases that can mean multiple things depending on the context.
— #FeesMustFall (@MegaFunTweets) July 4, 2023
“Stick to gospel and stop stressing out, are you gonna pull out google translate at the club 😂😂,” said j03_blvck.