South Africa, 30 June 2017 – Combining the emotive power of sport and music, Qhubeka is thrilled to have released Qhubeka KubaKuba, Qhubeka’s new official song, during the team presentation of Team Dimension Data at the Tour de France held on the evening of Thursday 29 June in front of the world’s media in Düsseldorf.
The song was created by South African musicians Mark Cheyne and Monde Msutwana. ‘KubaKuba’ is a simplification of ‘Qhuba Qhuba’, meaning ‘pedal pedal’. It’s derived from Qhubeka’s name, an Nguni word that means “to progress” or “to move forward”. It was chosen because of Qhubeka’s belief that bicycles help people move forward – with a bicycle, a person can travel faster and further, and carry more.
“You can’t be involved in cycling and not know about Team Dimension Data and Qhubeka. I had dreamed of writing a song that Qhubeka would love,” says Mark Cheyne, music composer, producer and a keen cyclist.
Mark Cheyne paired up with friend and singer/songwriter Monde Msutwana, who is currently voice coaching for The Voice SA, and the duo has produced a song that is Pan-African and very catchy. Qhubeka KubaKuba can be purchased on the iTunes Store and is also available as a ringtone, with a portion of the proceeds going towards funding bicycles for Qhubeka’s learn-to-earn and work-to-earn programmes.
“We were thrilled to hear that our song would be played on the global stage at the Tour de France,” says Cheyne. “We hope it will bring more awareness to what Qhubeka and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka is doing to change people’s lives using bicycles.”
“It was good fun making this track, and it’s special to make music that is part of a bigger purpose,” says Msutwana. “We believe pairing our passion for music and for Africa with Qhubeka’s vision of changing lives with bicycles is a winning combination.”
Team Principal at Team Dimension Data, Doug Ryder, says sports and music have a shared ability to move, inspire and unite people. “Our team is proud to support Qhubeka, and it was an honour to let cycling fans around the world hear Qhubeka KubaKuba for the first time during our team presentation at the team presentation at Tour de France 2017.”
Riders at Team Dimension Data have had the opportunity to visit Qhubeka’s programmes to see the difference bicycles can make.
This video shows Team Dimension Data experiencing a Qhubeka bicycle distribution event and is set to Qhubeka KubaKuba, Qhubeka's new official song.
Daniel Teklehaimanot, Team Dimension Data cycling champion from Eritrea, says, “This is a really nice song. It makes you smile when you listen to it and it is special that this song is about our team and Qhubeka. I am sure it will give the guys good motivation at the Tour but we will listen to it at all our races because everyday we ride for Qhubeka.”
Here are the Qhubeka KubaKuba lyrics:
Qhubeka, Qhubeka, Qhubeka
Qhubeka, carry on, progress, Qhubeka
Qhubeka, moving forward, Qhubeka, Qhubeka
Kubakuba, kubakuba!
Qhubeka! Noma kunga mnyama (Though it may be dark)
Qhubeka! Ungaphel' amandla (Don’t lose power/strength)
Qhubeka! Noma kunga nzima (Though it may be hard)
Qhubeka!
Qhubeka! Ungaphel' amandla (Don’t lose power/strength)
Qhubeka! Noma kunga nyuka (Though it may be steep)
Qhubeka! Noma kunga mnyama (Though it may be dark)
Qhubeka!
Changing lives - Qhubeka
Never look back, don’t slow down - Qhubeka
Changing lives - Qhubeka
Moving forward, carrying on, never look back - Qhubeka!
Composed by Mark Cheyne & Monde Msutwana
Featuring Monde Msutwana
Produced by Mark Cheyne
Qhubeka KubaKuba is now available to download and stream:
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/
For media wishing to have a copy of the MP3 of Qhubeka KubaKuba sent to them, please contact Collett Dawson at collett@thecolabnetwork.com
How did Qhubeka start?
The history behind the organisation is a heartfelt one. In 2004, Qhubeka founder, Anthony Fitzhenry owned a successful IT company. He recognised education is one route out of poverty and wanted to give children in under-resourced communities access to education.
One day, Fitzhenry began speaking with a headmistress of a township school. She made him imagine what the life of a child living in a disadvantaged setting was like. She spoke about how the struggle to access education often starts at home for these children. She asked him to imagine being a child in a home where you have to wake up in the dark at 4am, help out with chores, and begin a long walk to school. As he listened, Anthony realised that access to education, wouldn’t be resolved by schools computers and internet, but by finding a way to the kids to get to school more easily.
Fitzhenry began visiting the homes of the children at the school. As he did this he noticed there were no taxi routes or buses. In fact, there was very little infrastructure available for any transport systems. However, as a cyclist he recognised that bicycles were a low-cost solution.
Following this realisation, Qhubeka was born and Fitzhenry began to source bicycles and set up systems where children could do something to earn a bicycle.
Thirteen years later, Qhubeka has helped over 80 000 people gain access to schools, clinics and jobs.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
KubaKuba Campaign hashtag #
Qhubeka Twitter
Qhubeka Facebook @QhubekaBicycles
Qhubeka YouTube Qhubeka
Qhubeka Instagram @Qhubeka
About Qhubeka and Team Dimension Data
Qhubeka moves people forward with bicycles. People earn bicycles through our programmes, improving access to schools, clinics and jobs. Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”, “to move forward”. With a bicycle, a person can travel faster and further, and carry more.
Visit www.qhubeka.org for more information.
Founded in 2007, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka is Africa’s first World Tour cycling team with bases in South Africa and Italy. The team rides to inspire children to cycle, and raises funds for Qhubeka bicycles. Our shared belief is that bicycles change lives.
Visit www.bicylceschangelives.org for more information.
The thoughts behind Qhubeka KubaKuba, by Mark Cheyne
The song contains the authentic click sound from the Nguni word ‘Qhubeka’ which features throughout.
When composing the song, due to its nature, this click sound had to be considered as part of the percussion and rhythm of the song. It’s a unique piece of African culture to share with the world, especially when most commentators are using the ‘English’ pronunciation of ‘Qhubeka’.
The sound of a Kora (African harp) is featured in the song. The Kora is an African Mandinka harp built from a large calabash and contains 21 strings – it’s the highest developed string instrument of Africa. It’s a uniquely African instrument that sounds like a mixture of a harp and a flamenco guitar.
KubaKuba is a word we made up and is derived from the phrase Qhuba Qhuba which can be translated to mean “carry on’, ‘continue’ or 'keep pedalling’. The idea is that fans shout KubaKuba at the side of the road as cyclists pass as encouragement.
