In 1983, German group Boney M. released "Jambo — Hakuna Matata", an English-language version of the song Jambo Bwana by Kenyan group Them Mushrooms. Liz Mitchell provided the song's lead vocals, backed by Reggie Tsiboe, [
]], Cathy Bartney, Madeleine Davis and Judy Cheeks. The single performed poorly, reaching number 48 in the German charts and causing it to be omitted from the group's seventh album Ten Thousand Lightyears, released in 1984.
In 2003, Disney was granted a trademark protecting the phrase from being used on clothing and footwear.[3] Prior to the release of the 2019 remake, the trademark caused controversy in East Africa, where Disney was accused of cultural appropriation. More than 280,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org asking Disney to drop the trademark.[4]