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Sunday, May 10, 2020

Joyous Celebration - I Beat Medley" (South African Gospel Medley with special attention to the hand held cushion percussive instrument)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a 2015 video of South African Gospel choir Joyous Celebration singing a Gospel medley entitled "I Beat".

The lyrics to this song are included in this post along with selected comments from that video's discussion thread. Special attention is given to comments about the yellow cushions that the choir and congregation are holding in one hand and beating with the palm of the other hand.

The Addendum to this post showcases an example of these cushions being played during a Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa religious service.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Joyous Celebration and all those associated with this video and this medley of songs.

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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/10/videos-examples-of-south-africas-urcsa.html
for a October 5, 2019 pancocojams post that showcase videos of the South African Christian congregations which are known for their use of hand held cushions that are percussion instruments.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/05/five-videos-of-south-africas-urcsa.html for additional videos of a congregational singing by URCSA Khayelitsha.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Joyous Celebration - I Beat



joyousVEVO Oct 19, 2015
-snip-
Statistics as of May 19, 2020 as of 1:39 PM EDT
Total # of views-1,770,929
Total # of likes -9.5K
Total # of dislikes-363
Total # of comments -506

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This South African Gospel medley is titled "I Beat". "ibeat" is one colloquial name for the cushions that are held by the Joyous Celebration choir and their congregation in this video.

The comment that I added (given as #13 below) quotes a South African pdf which provides the isiXhosa term "umpampampas" (also given as "mpampampas") for the yellow cushions that are held and played by the Joyous Celebration choir and their audience. However, in the YouTube videos of Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), the Christian congregations that are known for playing these hand held instruments), the ibeat (mpampampas) are entirely white or entirely red, or entirely black. I also have seen a blue mpanpampas in the video of the South African church congregation that is embedded below. However, I've only seen yellow i beats in Joyous Celebration videos and it appear to me that those yellow i beats are somewhat smaller than many of the umpampampas that are featured in videos of URCSA church services such as the video that is embedded below.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(with numbers added for referencing purposes only)

1. winiswa nxele, 2015
"This song gives me life (literally)..I find healing in this song on so many occasions. It empowers me in such a way, words are not enough to describe how I feel listening to this guy.. Khaya has the anointing..The harmonies are on fleek."

**
REPLY
2. Melesha Williams, 2015
"I totally agree with you, even tho I do not know what is being sung."

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3. Bernadette Bethel, 2015
"Verse 1:
Sithi Oh Msindisi (We say, Oh Savior)…
Oh Msindisi, oh Msindisi Nguwe olithemba lam
(Oh Savior, oh Savior; You are my hope)
(Repeat)

Verse 2:
Ithemba lam Baba (My hope Father)
Ithemba lam ndonyuka nalo (I will rise with my hope)
Ndingene endumisweni (To enter the place of praise)
(Repeat)

Verse 3:
Ndingene, ndingen’ endumisweni Baba (To enter the place of praise Father)
Oh ndingene endumisweni, (Oh To enter the place of praise)
(Repeat)

Verse 4:
Ngena, oh ngena ngob’ indawo isekhona (Come in because there’s still a space left)
Ngena, ngena, indawo isekhona (Come in, come in there is still room)
Ngena nawe mama, Ngena nawe Baba (Come in you mother, come in you Father)
Ngena, ngena, indawo isekhona (Come in, come in there is still room)

Verse 5:
Ngonyama kaJuda, Wanqob’uSathane (Lion of Judah You defeated Satan)
Xa simi ngakuwe sonqotshwa ngubani (If we stand by you who will defeat us)
(Repeat)"

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4. Kandice Long, 2016
"What is that instrument they have on their hands?"

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REPLY
5. Msmadam msmadam, 2016
"Kandice Long we call it a beat"

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6. glorious n, 2017
"The bass at 1:29 though 😍😍 , I literally don’t understand anything but blessed"

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REPLY
7. Thando Ndwandwe, 2017
"Its a mix of hymns sung in IsiZulu
https://africangospellyrics.com/2013/03/16/i-beat-lyrics-by-joyous-celebration-16/"

**
8. Tafae Machimbiz, 2017
"I'm kinda confused 😁 Can someone please explain to me why this song is called I Beat? I mean how does it fit into what they are saying? What do they beat?"

**
REPLY
9. nobubelo moyo, 2017
"Tafae Machimbiz Cause they all beating that thing in their hands"

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10. debo adediran, 2017
"seen this video a million times. brings joy to my heart.
please this yellow thingy what is it call? where can i get it?"

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REPLY
11. Thando Ndwandwe, 2017
"The back of a hard cover bible will give the same effect, grew up watching the elder men in the church using that as a means to get the beat because back then, there were no keyboards and drums in the church, or we just simply clap our hands till they go numb hahaha. South African gospel hymns will get you going lol..."

**
12. adaeze okoye, 2019
"Please can someone tell me what that yellow bag they are all holding is."

**
REPLY
13. Okay then, 2020
"adaeze okoye it’s called a beat"

**
REPLY
13. Azizi Powell, 2020
"Here's a quote from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/44f5/464c1570df0258d80affad087a77371f5782.pdf
"The emergence of amakhorasi as an art form did not replace hymns, but is rather a functional evolution in Christian Xhosa music...

The following instruments are sometimes used in some mainline churches and in most independent churches: tambourines/rattles, triangles, cowbells, umpampampas (Bible-sized cushion covered with leather and beat with the palm of one hand), drums, sound pipes."...
-snip-
Given this quote, I believe the Xhosa name for those yellow bag is "umpampampas" (also given as mpampanpas). In certain YouTube discussion threads of videos of Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) services, some people refer to these bags or cushions as "ibeat", "a beat" or "pillows".

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ADDENDUM- VIDEO OF URCSA church service with umpampampas (ibeat)

URCSA Khayelitsha Ndikhangele Ngobubele 334



Sivuyisiwe Lutango, Mar 14, 2018
-snip-
About 5:03 in this video notice a man seated playing a djembe drum.

Also, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWmVBke_450&t=21s for a video that shows the metal percussive instruments that make the tingling sound that is heard in this video.

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