time I witnessed somebody playing one beat and not straying from it, like a religious experience, where it gets loud, and everyone goes into a trance. Music video The music video used the radio edit and was directed by Steve Barron. It features Mike Porcaro on bass, replacing David Hungate, who had already left the band before the video was made. Lenny Castro is also featured in the video on percussion. As of January 2023, the music video has over 833 million views on YouTube. In the video, a researcher in a library (portrayed by band member David Paich) tries to match a scrap of a picture of a shield to the book from which it was torn out. As he continues his search, a female librarian working at a nearby desk takes occasional notice of him, while a native carrying a shield that matches the picture begins to close in on the library from the surrounding jungle. When the researcher finds a book titled Africa, the native throws a spear at a bookshelf, toppling stacks of books. Africa falls open to the page from which the scrap was torn, but a lantern lands on it and sets it on fire, after which the librarian's eyeglasses are shown falling to the floor. The scenes are intercut with shots of a spinning globe and the band performing atop a stack of giant hardcover books, in which Africa is the topmost. Reception The song was popular upon its release, hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1983, and the song has continued to be a popular soft-rock classic up to the 21st century. Cash Box called it an "image-filled package of pop exotica with its gently tropical synth and marimba." Billboard called it an "evocative number" that should return the group to the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 after the weaker single "Make Believe". Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Toto's 5th greatest song. Legacy The song has been utilized in many internet memes, has appeared in television shows, such as Stranger Things, Family Guy, Chuck, and South Park, and was used by CBS during their 2013 coverage of the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela, albeit not without controversy.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/toto-africa-the-new-anthem-747262/|title=How Toto's 'Africa' Became the New 'Don't Stop Believin|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=October 31, 2018|access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref> It was also included in the 2002 video