Jerusalema: How a Global Hit Song Sparked an Unresolved Royalty Battle

Beninese music legend and global superstar Angélique Kidjo has added another chapter to her storied career with a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Performance for her riveting reinterpretation of "Jerusalema," the South African anthem originally by Master KG (now known as Wanitwa Mos) and Nomcebo Zikode that held the world captive during the global pandemic in 2020. 

The song’s journey began in 2018, when a then-relatively unknown producer from Limpopo, South Africa, created a beat that lingered in his mind until he finished it the following August. He then reached out to Nomcebo Zikode, whose vocals transformed the instrumental — a strain of South African electronic music known as Bolobedu House — into a musical gem that would prove its staying power. Master KG uploaded the song to his YouTube channel in October 2019, and the response in its first week suggested he was onto something big. “Whenever I logged onto streaming platforms, I would see my name and ‘Jerusalema’ trending. People were searching for the song even though it wasn’t available yet,” he told News24.

The track was finally released at the end of November. During that year’s festive season, there was no corner of South Africa where you wouldn’t hear it. Children sang it word for word, a testament to the emotional resonance that fueled its reach. The lyrics – “Jerusalema ikhaya lami / ngilondoloze / uhambe nami / zungangishiyi lana” (“Jerusalem, my home / save me / walk with me / don’t leave me here”) – struck a chord in a world where hope was scarce. The pressures of capitalism eroded the capacity for dreams.

Musically, it's built on muted kicks and claps that accentuate its devotional pulse. The vocal chop borrows from production techniques commonly associated with gqom, while the synth pads are straight out of the gospel music cookbook – chords that hover, lending the track its quiet ache while never tipping into melancholy. The entire song structure moves in a short loop that avoids dramatic lifts or obvious cadences, and creates space for the vocal to hold centre stage. 

"Jerusalema" represented a place far away, a dwelling free from the worries of the world, a destination we could all head towards to liberate our hearts and minds. This partly explains why, when the world shut down in 2020, it became the de facto soundtrack for a world in waiting, a world unsure of whether it was coming or going, or suspended in the ether. It was a panacea for a world in grief, for people reeling from the loss of loved ones, for a political system that proved incapable of containing our collective trauma. 

The Viral Rise and Unresolved Disputes

The other reason why the song blew up was quite practical. In February, while global leaders were reckoning with the possibility of a hard lockdown, the Angolan dance studio Fenomenos do Semba posted a video of members line dancing to the track while carrying their plates of food and eating, effectively kicking off the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge that caught fire and became viral. Soon, corporate entities were encouraging their employees to partake, nuns and monks in France were in on the party, and flash mobs sprang up around the world, eager to be part of the experience. The song transcended its regional and later national reach, becoming a prized possession in the sonic multiverse, a portal we could all tap into to temporarily escape the horrors unfolding before us. Locked-down bodies found release, joy, and solidarity in synchronied movement.

By July, it was the most Shazamed song in the world. Burna Boy hopped onto the remix in October of the same year, extending its reach and ensuring that it didn't recede from public consciousness. Other covers also sprang up, such as the Italian band Daudia's acoustic marvel. It emerged the following year that Zikode had not received royalties proportionate to the song's earnings. Her claims drew attention to long-standing inequities within South Africa’s music industry, particularly around contracts, credit, and compensation in producer-driven genres. 

The dispute, which involved Master KG’s label Open Mic Productions, played out in public. In no time, the narrative around “Jerusalema” shifted from it being a feel-good pandemic anthem to a cautionary example of how global visibility does not automatically translate into fair reward for all collaborators. In addition, a separate copyright dispute surfaced later when producers Charmza the DJ and Biblos filed legal claims in June 2022, alleging they originated parts of the song and weren’t properly credited or compensated. 

Following months of public scrutiny and industry pressure, the dispute around “Jerusalema” appeared to have eventually been resolved through a private settlement between Zikode and Open Mic Productions. However, the dispute raged on, the high court in Pretoria dismissed the application and ordered the applicants to jointly pay costs in May 2025.

In a statement, Zikode and her management company, Emazulwini Productions, described the court judgment as “flawed and troubling.” They said the singer has not received any recording royalties from Open Mic Productions for her contribution to the global hit.

“Despite her pivotal role in a cultural milestone that united and inspired millions across the globe, she continues to face a lack of transparency and meaningful accountability from those who have profited from her work,” the statement read.

Kidjo’s reinterpretation of “Jerusalema” strips the song of its club-oriented roots. Her version leans into an orchestral swell and draws the song closer to the spiritual traditions it gestures toward. Performed in formal concert settings — including high-profile appearances in Europe such as Notre-Dame, where its devotional undertones were amplified by the architecture itself — Kidjo’s “Jerusalema” is liturgical in its essence, and underscores her genre-fluid practice. In her hands, the song becomes part of a repertoire that brings African music to global institutions without stripping away its origins.

Kidjo’s recognition at the 2026 Grammy Awards underscores her enduring global influence, her genre‑fluid approach to music-making, and the song’s remarkable journey from a South African house track to a global phenomenon. Yet, even as “Jerusalema” continues to inspire and connect listeners worldwide, the ongoing disputes over royalties and credit serve as a reminder that the song’s full story – both its triumphs and the struggles behind the scenes – is still very much unresolved.