"

" is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist

. It is often cited as one of the first disco records. In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "

" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was then unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record. Atlantic eventually licensed the song from the French record label Fiesta. Their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973; in 1999 Dave Marsh wrote that it was "the only African record by an African" to crack the top 40. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart. It became "a massive hit" internationally as well.
The song's refrain consists of the phrase "ma-mako, ma-ma-sa,

", which is a play in the word "

", Dibango's main music genre. After the popularization of the song, the phrase was adapted and used in several popular songs, including:
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (Michael Jackson, 1982) during the song's final bridge; altered to "mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-ku-sa"
Pump Your Fist (Kool Moe Dee, 1989)
Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts) (A Tribe Called Quest, 1990) altered to "mama say yah, ma-ma ku-sa"
Butt Naked Booty Bless (Poor Righteous Teachers, 1990)
Mama Say (Bloodhound Gang, 1994)
Samba Makossa (Chico Science, 1994)
Cowboys (Fugees, 1996)
Face Off (Jay-Z, 1997)
Intro/Court/Clef/Intro (Wyclef Jean, 1997)
Gettin' Jiggy wit It (Will Smith, 1998) altered to "mama (uh), mama (uh), mama come closer"
Startin' Something (Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, 1998)
Hailie's Revenge (Doe Rae Me) (Eminem ft. Obie Trice and D12, 2003)
Algo más que música (El Chojin, 2005)
Don't Stop the Music (Rihanna, 2006)
Brooklyn Girls (Charles Hamilton, 2008)
Hands In The Air (Girl Talk, 2010)
Lost in the World (Kanye West, 2010)