"Sweet Mother" is a highlife

Highlife

Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...

 song by the Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

/Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ian singer Prince Nico Mbarga

Prince Nico Mbarga

Prince Nico Mbarga was a highlife musician, born to a Nigerian mother and a Cameroonian father in Abakaliki, Nigeria...

 and his band Rocafil Jazz. Released in 1976, it remains one of the most popular songs in Africa.

The demo-tape of "Sweet Mother" was turned down by EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 in 1974, citing the song's "childish appeal". "Sweet Mother" was later also rejected by Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 and Philips Records

Philips Records

Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...

, before it was eventually released in December 1976 by Rogers All Stars, a Nigerian recording company based in Onitsha

Onitsha

Onitsha is a city, a commercial, educational, and religious center and river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria....

.

The song is a celebration of motherhood, sung in Nigerian Pidgin English

Nigerian Pidgin

Nigerian Pidgin is an English-based pidgin and a creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria. The language is commonly referred to as "Pidgin" or "Brokin". It is often not considered a creole language since most speakers are not native speakers, although many children do learn it early...

. The music is West African highlife

Highlife

Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...

, with Congolese Soukous

Soukous

Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...

-style guitar finger-picking

Fingerstyle guitar

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....

.

"Sweet Mother" went on to become one of the most popular hits in Africa, selling over 13 million copies. Sometimes called Africa's anthem, it was voted Africa's favourite song by BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 readers and listeners in 2004, coming before Brenda Fassie

Brenda Fassie

Brenda Fassie , was a South African pop singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.-Biography:Brenda was born in Langa,...

's "Vuli Ndlela", Fela Kuti

Fela Kuti

Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...

's "Lady", Franco

Francois Luambo Makiadi

François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi was a major figure in twentieth century Congolese music, and African music in general. He is widely referred to as Franco Luambo or, simply, Franco. Known for his mastery of rumba, he was nicknamed the "Sorcerer of the Guitar" for his seemingly effortlessly fluid...

's "Mario" and Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....

's version of "Malaika

Malaika

Malaika, which means "angel" in Swahili , is the most famous love song in Kenyan pop music, as well as one of the most widely known Swahili songs...

".

Sample Music