What's the Best Cover Version of Africa?
Mike Masse and Jeff Hall’s cover version of the song “Africa” by Toto has over 16 million views on YouTube. Masse’s soaring vocals set this cover apart from other versions. Masse and Hall make the song their own while still paying homage to Toto’s original version.
Toto’s response to this cover has been overwhelmingly positive. David Paich, the keyboardist and a founding member of the band, praised the cover in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. Paich said that he was blown away by Masse’s vocals and that the cover was a testament to the enduring popularity of the song. Steve Lukather, the band’s guitarist, shared the video of Masse and Hall’s cover on Twitter and said “This is amazing. Mike Massé & Jeff Hall do Toto proud!”
Steve Porcaro, another founding member of Toto, was similarly impressed by the cover. In an interview with Popdose, Porcaro said that he loved the stripped-down, acoustic approach that Masse and Hall had taken and that he was happy to see Toto’s music continue to resonate with new fans.
Judge for yourself. We have Toto’s original and Masse’s and Hall’s cover below. We’ve also collected a number of the better covers for this song. Sample them all and let us know which one you think is best!
Here's the original song from Toto:
Here's the cover from Masse and Hall:
More covers of Africa are below. Listen to them all and let us know which one is best. If you find a group that you like, you can click through to Apple or Amazon and listen to or buy some music.
Also, if there’s a good cover version that we should add, leave us a comment in the comment section with a name of the group and a link to their cover song.
The multi-talented, multi-track Jared Halley
Italian Artists
Postmodern Jukebox ft. Casey Abrams & Snuffy Walden
Peter Bence (piano)
Project: Civilized
Australian band Chaos Divine
Norwegian singer Minniva Børresen
Australian group Dave Winnel (techno)
Straight No Chaser a cappella group, quarantine version
TG Lurgan music project, Coláiste Lurgan school (in Gaelic)
Brazilian band Emmerson Nogueira
HINDLEY STREET COUNTRY CLUB
Projeto Z (another band from Brazil)
Which is your favorite? Is there another cover song that we should add? Let us know in the comments.
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