Flavour- "Golibe" (A 2014 Nigerian Video That Reminds Me Of Scenes From Eddie Murphy's Movie "Coming To America")

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision- Feb. 17, 2021

This pancocojams post showcases the official video for Flavour's "Golibe" video and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread.

The lyrics to the song are included in this post along with some explanations of Igbo words in that song and that video script.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Flavour N’abania for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those associated with this featured video and all those who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to the YouTube publisher of this video.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/05/coming-to-america-african-dance-shes.html for a pancocojams post about the movie "Coming To America".

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/10/davido-aye-nigerian-afro-beat-video.html for a pancocojams post on Davido's record entitled "Aye". The plot of that Nigerian record is about love between a poor farmer and a prince's fiancée.

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Yesterday, while surfing YouTube videos of contemporary Nigerian music, I happened upon the official video of Flavour's love song "Gollibe". I was really impressed by the song and its video, which was directed by Clarence A. Peters. (Watching various YouTube videos, including Yemi Alade's "Johnny", I've learned that videos directed by Clarence A. Peters are very high quality).

At least three people wrote in that video's discussion thread that it was a Nigerian (or Igbo or African) version of the Cinderalla fairy tale. I can see where they're coming from - In both "stories" a poor girl ends up marrying the prince. But it also occurred to me that that Golibe video is a Nigerian (or Igbo or African) version of some of the story of and some scenes from the 1988 movie Coming To America - the scene where the prince meets the African bride his father chose for him, and the scene in the bar when the prince tries to find the woman he wants to marry.

Coming to America is a movie about a prince from a fictitious African nation who rejected his father's choice of his bride, and traveled to the United States to find his own bride. The video for Flavour's love song "Golibe" is produced like a clip of a movie. That video is about a man who has several encounters with a poor woman. We're not aware that the man is a prince until near the end of the  video. In that scene a number of women are paraded in front of that man who is seated with his father and mother- the king and queen. The man ends up choosing the poor woman who he is shown marrying at the end of the video.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Flavour - Gollibe [Official Video]



Official Flavour, Published on Dec 1, 2014
-snip-
Commenters in this video's discussion thread wrote that the stars of this video are Nigerian celebrities.

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LYRICS* - GOLLIBE
(Flavour)

Otego m chobara nwa di mma m ga-alu
(For long I have been searching for a good girl to marry)
E don tey I have been searching for you
Otego m chobara asa di mma oyoko
E don tey i have been searching for you

Fortunately oo m we funu nwata di mma
(Fortunately I have found this good girl)

Anwuta atabeghi ya
she has no mosquito bites (beatiful with a smooth skin)
baby na sweet paw paw
(beatiful, sweet like a paw paw fruit)

Baby get something, lekenunu nwata nwere something
(there is something about her)
(lekenunu nwata nwere something - look this babe has something)

Achara ugo nwanyi nwa bu Ugegbe onyibo
context- (she shines like a precious stone)
like a foreign mirror
(ugegbe literally means - mirror)
(oyinbo - white or foreign)

Nwata makata mma le le (makata makata)
(Nwata - This girl, makata - is so beautiful)
Iye eeeehh (makata makata)
Omakata mma eeeeeh (makata makata)
nwata di mma
I say nwata makata mma le le (makata makata)
Iye eeeehh ooo (makata makata)
ololo olooooo(makata makata)
nwata di mma
(good girll)

Nwata makata mma le le (makata makata)
Omakata mma eeeeeh (makata makata)
Iye eeeehh (makata makata)
nwata di mma
I say nwata makata mma le le (makata makata)
Omakata mma (makata makata)
Iye eeeehh ooo (makata makata)
nwata di mma
(good girll)

Golibe golibe
(Golibe - The name of the girl)
(Golibe literal translation - rejoice)
Your mama born you well
(you were well brought up)
Golibe yoyoyo eeeee

Nwata golibe
(this girl Golibe)

Ugegbemuooo Golibe na mama gi musiri gi ike
Ugegbemuooo - (my mirror), Gollibe na mama gi(your mother), musiri gi ike (gave birth to you strong)
loose context (my precious diamond or stone you were well brought up)
Golibe yoyoyo eeeee mma si na chi
nma (beauty), si na chi (comes from God)
(Golibe your beauty is a Gift from God)


*posted by C Duke (2015) in that official video's discussion thread. Note that this transcription includes the commenter's correction for a typo. The commenter said that these lyrics were "loosely translated".

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SELECTED COMMENTS
These comments either summarize the plot of this featured video or provide information and explanations about the meaning of Igbo words in Flavour's song "Gollibe".

All of these comments are from 2015. These comments aren't necessarily in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only.

1. zwitterion
... "He is saying that he is lucky to have found a beautiful, well mannered girl for a wife after many years of searching....and he is convincing her to give him a chance. Her name is "Gollibe" which means "Rejoice" in Igbo language.

Hope that helps you put the video into context"

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2. Marcella Maitland
"Beautiful song!!! What is he saying??? Please explain to your Jamaican sister."

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3. Nene Christi
"He's just talking about how he has been searching for a girl to marry and he stumbled upon one girl that was very beautiful, not too flashy of proud like some other girls. He's saying the girl's mother born her well, basically saying her beauty is beyond words."

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4. BAENGEL SONJI
"Gollibe Gollibe your Mama born you well. That's all I understand. I guess the girl name is Gollibe.. don't really understand but I Love the story."

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4. victor enemuoh
Reply
"+BAENGEL SONJI gollibe is a girls name lol I know a lot of Nigerian girls named gollibe"

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5. Abiye Douglas
Reply
"It simply means start rejoicing or be happy"

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6. Ababacar Diouf
"what is the meaning of MAKATA MAKATA and GOLLIBE plz"

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7. C Duke
Reply
"+Ababacar Diouf makata makata means so or very beautiful

and Gollibe is the name of the girl. The translation for the name Gollibe means rejoice"

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8. Esther Ajakaiye
"so according to flavor , a man must almost hit my sister and i with his car due to his careless driving, then i must run to help him when trips over because he wasn't looking where he was going. and then i will hop in to his car just anyhow. then find out he was doing identity fraud all along in order to get married to him in the end LOOOL #trolling"
-snip-
In another comment Esther Ajakaiye explained that in the context of her comment “#trolling” meant “joking”.

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9. Tunde Ola-luwoye
"+Esther Ajakaiye Roflmaol, that was funny,really funny,its amazing how your mind works..i'm in stitches right now.."

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10. dave averena
"Your mama born you well" huh

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11. AfricancoolChic
Reply
"+dave averena It's a pidgin English expression. Your mama carried you for 9 months, gave birth to you and raised you so well. My Pidgin English isn't perfect, but I think that's what it means."

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12. Kolawole Oyewole
"Flavors version of Cinderella story. Love it!"

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13. bandile21
"A Cinderella story, Nollywood version!"
-snip-
“Nollywood”= Nigeria’s movie industry; the term is a form of “Hollywood”.

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14. Kady Diallo
"That song makes me cry so nice a poor can get mary whit a rich God bless u Flavour u r a great men luv u more"

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15. rachel mbehtalkshow
"please can anyone help translate??? thank u"

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16. Victory Ekwueme
Reply
"+rachel mbehtalkshow otego nm chobala nwa di mma agama lu_- its been long i have been looking for a good girl to marry, fortunately i have found you. nwata makata makata- the girl is beautiful, very beautiful.. golibe your mama born you well- Rejoice your mother gave birth to you well*. Golibe means rejoice."
-snip-
*In standard American English this sentence would be “Gollibe, (a female name meaning "rejoice")your mother raised you well.

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17. l tx
"One music video with a better storyline line than every Nollywood movie. Lol."

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18. Amaka Onwuneme [written in response to another blogger's commenter's point that the word "makata" means "male sexual organ" in Lingala, another traditional African language]
That's the diversity if language , but in the igbo language it means more beautiful, continous beauty (makata makata)...:)

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19. Nel Leo
Reply
"My friend, he is singing 'makata mma' meaning exceptionally beautiful in Igbo. What ever it means in your language is irrelevant to the song and anyone."

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19. KazoomD
Reply
"+8AUGROMAN there is no amakata either. It is written as “nwata ma ka ta mma”, probably why ppl keep writing makata"

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20. Esther Iguh
Reply
"Flavour is an Igbo man, a Nigerian, expressing his music in that language. Flavour was not talking about body parts! Just enjoy the music & don't attempt to translate his vernacular to your language"

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21. funa shakas
"+8AUGROMAN Don't go about making wrong corrections. What Flavor sang was makata not amakata. There is no word like amakata in Igbo. The A sound that most people perceive is the last letter in the word nwata "Nwata makata mma". Makata is a word just like 'crying' is a word in English. It is made up of the verb root ma which means be beautiful and the suffixes ka-ta which express continuity. You can add these suffixes to every other Igbo verb. Speaking as an Igbo linguist. Don't get it twisted."

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