Welcome to the story of Che Che Kule, a song that predates TikTok by several centuries.
Before it was a TikTok sound, before it was a campfire singalong, Che Che Kule (formally spelled “Kye Kye Kule” in the Akan language) is a traditional children’s folk song from Ghana, West Africa specifically associated with the Fanti and Akan peoples.
It’s a call-and-response chant, which means one person leads a line and everyone else echoes it back. The song also comes with full-body movement head, shoulders, hips, knees, feet making it something like Ghana’s version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
The song spread far beyond Ghana’s borders through World Scout and Girl Guide competitions, school music programs, and community cultural events. By the 1970s, Americanized versions were already showing up in US classrooms. It reached Korea, Japan, Norway, and everywhere in between. One Ghanaian living in Norway even described his shock watching a Norwegian football team jump and sing it in celebration after a championship win.
Kye Kye Kule
(chay chay koo-lay)
Group
Kye Kye Kule ↩
Leader
Kye Kye Kofi sa
(chay chay ko-fee-sa)
Group
Kye Kye Kofi sa ↩
Leader
Kofi sa langa
Group
Kofi sa langa ↩
Leader
Kaka shi langa
Group
Kaka shi langa ↩
Leader
Kum Aden Nde
(koom ah-den-day)
Both
Kum Aden Nde
