Definition of mbube in US English:


(also mboube)


South African
  • A style of male choral music, usually unaccompanied, which combines traditional Zulu song with American gospel music, and is often performed to slow, synchronized dance movements patterned after Zulu regimental dancing.


1940s. From Zulu mbube, vocative of imbube lion, so named from the title of a popular song composed by Solomon Linda which was first recorded in 1939 by his group ‘The Evening Birds’, and later adapted abroad, where it was given the title ‘Wimoweh’.