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Toto’s ‘Africa’ will now be on never-ending loop in African desert

FILE PHOTO: Toto's Steve Lukather performs at the Hyperion Theater on January 25, 2013 in Anaheim, California. An artist has installed an MP3 player and speakers in the middle of an African desert to pay tribute to Toto's hit.
FILE PHOTO: Toto's Steve Lukather performs at the Hyperion Theater on January 25, 2013 in Anaheim, California. An artist has installed an MP3 player and speakers in the middle of an African desert to pay tribute to Toto's hit.
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Jan 15, 2019

It’s an earworm for the ages. An artist from Namibia has installed a group of speakers and an MP3  player, to play “Africa” by Toto, in the song’s namesake, Africa -- specifically in the Namib Desert.

Max Siedentropf told the BBC he set up solar batteries "to keep Toto going for all eternity."

"[I] wanted to pay the song the ultimate homage and physically exhibit 'Africa' in Africa," Siedentropf told the BBC.

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Siedentropf picked a spot in the middle of the desert to set up the six speakers and the music player with a single track on it that will play over, and over, and over again. He hopes it will play for 55 million years. The Namib Desert is the world's oldest desert, dating back about 55 million years, CNN reported.

But the elements, maybe even the rains down in Africa, may mute the song well before that.

“Most parts of the installation were chosen to be as durable as possible, but I'm sure the harsh environment of the desert will devour the installation eventually,” he said.

"Africa" was released in 1982 and is still a pop culture staple, selling more than 4 million copies in the U.S. A sample of the song was heard in the recent DC movie "Aquaman" and a Twitter bot posts lyrics daily since 2016, CNN reported.

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Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

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